


How Far Our Bodies Go

by Cherrypie62666



Series: Random unfitting one shots and stories [9]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU, Action Will Come, Aged-Up Character(s), And Dead Things, Angst and Humor, But Also Occasionally Morbid, Don't worry, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Just Because Nico Is A Zombie Doesn't Mean He Doesn't Have Feelings, Love Saves, M/M, Multi-Chapter Super Long Fic, No one stays a zombie, Post-Zombie Apocalypse, Probably Less Dark Than Amusing, Relearning Things, Slow Burn, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Why Did I Write This?, Zombie AU, Zombie!Nico, because zombies, cute moments, funny moments, human will, it starts slow, okay maybe a little, or it will be, solangelo, sorry - Freeform, switching POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2018-10-13 01:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10503633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherrypie62666/pseuds/Cherrypie62666
Summary: In an act that Nico assumed was smarter than it was foolhardy, the boy took off away from the madness waiting around the corner behind them, hopping over bits of debris, trying to lose the creature in the mess.Without knowing why, Nico followed, limbs already slackened from their usual tense state by the thrill of the hunt.  It didn’t matter that he wasn’t keen on ingesting the poor guy, his body was going to react to its instincts regardless of how his… emotionless emotions felt.He caught sight of the boy running down a cross-street and decided it wouldn’t hurt to try and meet him on the other end.  Taking the turn on the opposite side, he wrapped the length of the building, skittering out on the adjacent street in time to witness the look of shock playing on those beautiful features as the boy realized there weren’t just one, but two zombies after him now.Of course, Nico wasn’t going to hurt him, but he couldn’t exactly communicate that.  When he tried, it came out in a creepy, low growl; not unlike a dog.Nice, Nico.  Very reassuring.Or-Prepare for a Warm Bodies-style Zombie AU! Nice and long and slow build.





	1. After the War

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline lengthened for ease purposes. If you find anywhere that indicates they are 16 and not 18, or that is was four and not six years, please let me know!  
> I appreciate the help, I am only one person. ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just pretend the fact Apollo is still called Apollo isn't totally weird considering they're all human?  
> I honestly didn't know what the hell to call him otherwise?  
> Sorry Apollo campers, most of you don't exist anymore. :3

The air was warm as he walked through the grassy field, a gentle breeze kicking up, blowing in the scent of spring flowers, the heady aroma of damp earth, and the heavenly smell of fresh bread baking in the little shop on the outskirts of town.  The hustle and bustle of city life were gone, erased from memories in a flash, as the quiet toil of a simpler kind of life became the necessary adaption to the ever-changing world around them.

Disease had struck, hard and fast, culling their population in dizzying numbers, more and more each and every day.  When news had first spread, worldwide panic was the first response; followed by looting, riots, bloodlust, and eventually, the destruction of a life once thought to be the epitome of human development, reduced in mere months to smoldering ash.

That had been eons ago, to someone like him, barely remembering a time in which there was life outside the protective barrier of their walls.  He had been twelve at the time, and in the six short years that followed, things had changed beyond recognition of what they once were. Memories were hazy, at best, and it was better not to dwell on the past. All that mattered now was the future.

It wasn’t necessarily a great life, but they made do, turning to things like solar energy to power their steadily repopulating town, using farming and agriculture as a means to continue thriving with what little they still had.  Some hunted, when they could, though it was easier just to raise the animals they sought to use for meat. Others gathered, when needed, leaving the safety of their barriers, but only in the direst of situations.

And it worked, so long as each person played their part, listening to the wisdom of those like his father, who helped to bring their pitiful existence back from the brink of extinction. Steadily, like the slow trickle of water from a tiny stream, they expanded outward once more, becoming an entity that shrank and grew with the will of her people.

There were prices to pay, like all things, but none that really hurt anyone willing to offer their service in return for a safe place to sleep, the promise of food in their bellies, and the ever necessary protection against the still thriving threat, roaming across the dying land in slowly dwindling, although not enough to be considered anything but terrifying, numbers.

Some received more than others, he couldn’t deny that fact, but it wasn’t for naught.  Those that sat highest up the chain of command were also the ones who poured more of themselves into the protection and continuation of their little colony, and thus, they were given bigger houses, with better access to fresher foods.

It was still fair, if everyone got as much as was needed, so he saw no harm in his family getting to live a little nicer than some of his friends.  No one complained, knowing all too well they weren’t prepared to sacrifice themselves thusly, and even the children that were born into such a cushy life were expected to one day continue the cycle of laying down their own lives for the sake of the whole.

It was thus that he found himself crossing through the empty fields betwixt the two barriers, making his way over to the base he had been trained at in order to learn the necessary skills to further protect their home. 

He was given a militaristic type of regiment, chalk full of survival skills they didn’t teach to those in regular school, as well as knowledge in how to properly kill the monsters, and how to protect yourself and others against infection.

Not all who trained actually left the safety of the outer wall, some were left to guard the innermost barrier, the one that acted as a second layer of protection against a possible breach in the first.  Sewers, tunnels, subway systems; they all still remained beneath their feet, and not all areas could be properly blocked off, so it was imperative they were ever watchful.

From time to time, the alarms would pierce the night, and the people would huddle inside their homes, hopeful that the invasion was kept at bay, fearful that the disease might someday slip inside their little protective bubble, effectively ending their last fleeting hope for colonized survival.

It hadn’t happened, not yet, at least.  It was thanks to the many, who chose a harder life riddled with dangers, that the bulk of their society got to live relatively at peace.  It was an honor, to be among those who fought tirelessly to protect, and so he never thought of it as a burden, not even for a moment.

Reaching the large stone building, nestled in the shadow of the looming expanse of the outer rim, he opened the door and stepped inside, blinking back the sudden wall of darkness that clouded his vision, taking a moment to adjust to the dim interior of their base.

Already, a few familiar faces swam into view, and he smiled happily, strolling over to join the small group of individuals he’d come to call friends.  “Hey guys, what’s up,” he asked in a cheerful tone, earning a scowl from Clarisse, who practically scowled at everything anyway.

Lou Ellen met his cheerful look with one of barely contained excitement.  “Hey, Will!  Did you hear that they’re finally going to send us on a mission?  I’m so pumped, I can’t wait to hear what it is.”

Cecil rolled his eyes in response, patting the girl’s shoulder affectionately.  “Too bad it’ll probably be something super lame, and hardly challenging.  Conner said when he went on his first, they only sent them to round up a few coyotes that had managed to get through the outer rim.  I mean, cool, you get to use those supercharged taser guns; but where is the challenge in that?”

Clarisse scoffed, shooting the three of them a sour look.  “As if you three could ever handle something harder than a small little roundup mission.  Please, you’d all be dead or changed before you had time to let out a scream.  You better hope they give you newbies an easy job, or most of you won’t be coming back.”

Lou Ellen quirked a brow at the surly girl, crossing arms over her chest.  “Will is one of the best archers since the start of this camp, I’ll have you know, and he’s quick on his feet, which is more than you can say, slowrisse.”

“Slowrisse,” Cecil mumbled to him, and he shrugged in response.  Lou Ellen was never very good at making up insults.

“I’m far better than you lot are with a real weapon, and in the end, that’s the part that matters most,” she sniffed, ignoring the comment about her lacking skill.

Lou pursed her lips.  “Anyone can aim a gun and hit the target.  We might not get instant kill shots, but that doesn’t mean a hit to anywhere on the body won’t still save your life.  At least Will can use a weapon that takes actual precision and talent, unlike your macho, no skill having, automatically reloading weapon.”

Will held up his hands in a placating manner, attempting to calm the two girls before it turned into an all-out brawl.  Clarisse’s face was already turning red with rage, and against a tiny girl like Lou Ellen, the outcome was decided before anything even began.  “Woah, Woah, calm down, you two.  It isn’t about who is better.  Everyone is needed to do their part, otherwise, the entire mission would fail.  I can admit that Clarisse is the better fighter than me.”  The bigger girl smiled smugly at his friend.  “But I don’t care, because that’s not what is important to me, in the end.”

“Yeah, yeah, Mr. I want to be a medic someday,” Lou muttered under her breath.

“Exactly,” he chided, shooting her a stern look.  “So I don’t need the kind of skills that Clarisse has.  Meanwhile, she is better suited on the front lines, which is nothing to scoff at.  It’s the most dangerous of jobs, so kill shots are much more important than a shot that only maims.  If you’re going to do something, do it right the first time, and leave no room for error.”

It was something his father always said, but it rang true to him, and he strived to live to those expectations.  He knew he wasn’t fit to be a killer, it wasn’t in his nature, so he didn’t pretend to be one for the sake of a wounded pride.  Being a medic, giving aid to those who would otherwise perish, was far more important to him than assuring he could kill monsters.

His thoughts were interrupted by another door opening, the small group of higher-ups stepping through, accompanied by his father.  They spoke in hushed tones, serious looks playing out on their faces before three of them broke off and left, his father the only one who remained behind.

Apollo assessed the four of them there, arms folded behind his back, tanned face pulled into a stoic expression, the same one he reserved for all of his recruits, no matter who they happened to be.  Having grown up with him, Will knew the man could be soft, even sensitive at times.  His warm blue eyes always held a tender look toward his wife, the angular features of his face handsome, even well into his early forties.

All of that softness was gone, replaced with cool determination; the jagged scar that ran down his right temple, which kissed the very top of his cheekbone, looking even more daunting with the hard set of his icy gaze.  He appraised them slowly, sizing them up, much like he did everyone he came into contact with.  It was probably meant to intimidate, though, for Will, it was hardly fazing.

“You four have been summoned for a very delicate mission,” he began, voice low and sharp like shards of broken glass.  “I’m sure you’re wondering why I picked you when there are yet others worthy in your same class.  It would be due to the set of skills each one has, that together, make a perfect whole.  From this moment on, you are a fine-tuned, well-oiled machine.  I expect you to take the job very seriously, because should you hesitate for even a moment, it could mean death, or worse.”

His gaze stopped on each one, in turn, naming off their reasons for being included in the mission.  “Cecil, you are a decent enough fighter, but what you lack in raw skill, you make up for in your scouting and tracking abilities.  They will come in handy when you find yourself in unfamiliar territory.”

Cecil gave a firm nod, blue eyes growing more excited by the second.

Next, Apollo turned to Lou.  “Lou Ellen, you are quick on your feet, and not just in speed, but adaptability.  You’ve scored highest in your class for all the reconstruction tests, and the ability to transform mundane items into deadly weapons is always a great asset when delving into the unknown.  You never know when you’ll run out of ammo, so your skill is highly valued, and I know I can trust in you should the need arise.”

Lou blushed slightly, unused to such high praise from a higher up.  “Thank you, sir.”

He skipped over Will, turning next to Clarisse.  “Of course, Clarisse, we all know why you are here.  Unmatched with a gun, you can hit a target from farther than most.  Your skill, along with your impeccable survival instincts, are exactly what a dangerous mission needs.  I have complete faith in your ability to keep everyone safe, should it come to it.”

Clarisse beamed brighter than the sun, which was strange, considering she never looked pleased with anything.  “You can count on me, sir.”

“And finally, my son, Will.”  Apollo’s blue gaze softened only a fraction more than he allowed with anyone else.  “You are skilled in all aspects, never falling short by more than a narrow margin in any and every category.  You are truly a fine soldier and a grand asset no matter what the job calls for.”

He paused to puff up at that, as if he was the reason, before continuing on.  “But, most importantly, your expertise in the medical is why I have personally picked you.  Because none compare when it boils down to whether or not someone will live, or if they will die.  Your patient survival rate is higher than anyone’s, because you’ll never admit defeat, so I know I can count on you to bring everyone back alive.”

Will swore he saw the pride shining warmly in those blue eyes, so much like his own.  “Thanks, dad.  Ah, sir,” he mumbled, shuffling his feet around.  “I’ll try not to let you down.”

Apollo smiled at that, then straightened up, returning to his more authoritative demeanor.  “And now, for the mission.  We need a small, inconspicuous group to go out into the wildlands, and bring back some supplies.  It sounds easy, but I assure you, it is no picnic.  The areas beyond these walls are dangerous, littered with monsters, and speckled with death.  You do not know, because you have not seen it since you were very young, but six years can change the state of things beyond recognition.”

He paused again, allowing the gravity of the situation to sink in, though, for the most part, the three beside him looked eager and pleased.

“Not only are there remnants of the failed war, still active landmines and ready to trip bombs, but the animals that once kept away from cities and populated regions have once again grown to astronomical numbers, and their new home exists right where ours used to.  They do not know any humans, save for the ones who are diseased, so they are ever aggressive toward our kind.  Be vigilant at all times, I cannot stress this enough.”

In unison, the four nodded their heads.  “Yes sir,” they chorused, and Apollo appeared pleased.

“It shouldn’t take longer than two days, one out, and one back.  I do not recommend venturing anywhere after the sun sets, it is not wise to travel across areas you cannot see.  Our teams have worked for years to deactivate the worst of the threats, plainly marking those that are too dangerous to set off so close to our home.  Yellow paint is your warning, stay clear of its perimeter.  You will leave first thing tomorrow, and your supplies will already be packed.  We carry light, so as not to slow us down, so you’ll need to use your knowledge of the environment and survival skills to catch rations beyond what we can spare.”

Lou Ellen and Cecil grimaced at that, but Clarisse only seemed to look even more pumped.  Will turned to his father then, mouth becoming a hard-set line.  “Sir, what exactly are we retrieving on this mission.”

“I’m glad you asked.  We have compiled a list of necessary items, though do not hesitate to use your judgment to decree if something more can be made useful.  Medical supplies are always advantageous, as are weapons, even just for their metals.  For the most part, we need the raw supplies that help keep our city powered.  They cannot be grown or made, so every so often, we must leave and bring back more.  Upon completion of this mission, you will be recognized as a full member of the army, and can apply wherever you’d like for a position, should one be available.”

Lou Ellen gasped, eyes going wide with glee.  “So you mean…”

Apollo smiled at her enthusiasm.  “Yes, this forgoes the extensive exams you would normally need to face.  It isn’t necessary to test you further.  If you can survive outside these walls, you automatically pass.  Do not be fooled into thinking it is in any way easier, quite the contrary, you would assuredly be safer taking two weeks to earn your marks in a controlled setting.  If I did not have complete faith in your abilities, I would not send you out to your deaths.  Any further questions?”

They all shook their heads, though to varying degrees of excitement.  Perhaps the only one reluctant was Will himself, feeling less a rush of enthusiasm, and more a pang of uncertainty.

“Then you are excused for the day.  Rest up, you will not be so fortunate tomorrow.  Dismissed.”

Lou and Cecil hurried away, whispering in harsh, excited tones as they left the building, leaving him there with Clarisse and his father.

The girl stood at attention, back straight, shoulders back, fierce determination written hard on her face.  When Apollo looked at her in question, she gave a nod.  “Sir.  I just wanted to say that I won’t let you down.  I promise to keep everyone safe, and make sure no one gets left behind.”

“I expected nothing less of you, Clarisse.  You are a fine soldier, and will make a great addition to my ranks someday.”

She glowed with the praise, giving another nod of the head.  “Right.  I’ll leave you two then,” she stated, voice a little softer than it normally was.

Will watched her go, a new skip in her step, radiating the kind of easy pride he had never been privy to before.  For her, it was an ambition to strive for, but for him, it was always just a sacrifice necessary to keep the people he loved safe and sound.

Apollo smiled at him, softening into the fatherly man he was at home.  “I hope you don’t resent me, for choosing you to go with.  I know it isn’t your dream, but it’ll help pave the way for your future, and you have always been the glue that keeps everyone tightly together.  You’re a natural leader, and they’ll need that kind of firm grip to get them back here safely.”

“I know,” Will nodded, dropping his gaze down to his feet.  “And I’m honored you’d pick me when I know others would also suffice.”

Apollo frowned, coming forward to place a warm hand on his shoulder.  “You’re too modest, Will.  You are first in your class, in terms of well-roundedness.  Just because you aren’t always the one with the highest score, it doesn’t mean you aren’t fit to go.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he admitted, chewing on his lip.  “I just know someone else would probably benefit more, seeing as how I’m never going to leave the wall once I graduate.”

Apollo pursed his lips.  “No one knows what the future holds.  Never is a mighty long time, and I want to know you are prepared for all things, especially when it comes to protecting our family.  Your mother and sister might need you one day if I’m not still around to assure their safety.”

“I know.  I’ll do my best, dad.”

Apollo smiled.  “If you’re going to do something, do it right the first time.”

“And leave no room for error,” he finished, smiling back.

“I know you, and your best is always enough.  Now go, rest up.  You have a long mission ahead of you, and I know you could use the sleep.”  He pulled Will into a warm hug, squeezing gently, before stepping back and ruffling his hair.  “Tell your mother I’ll be late for dinner, and that I’m sorry.  If I don’t see you tonight, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Will nodded, smiling once more.  “Okay,” he promised, then gave a small wave, and left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I left it here, even though I really wanted to just write more,  
> And believe me, I shall be, after this posts  
> But mostly because I'm trying this thing where I pace myself  
> And since it was a nice pause point, I figured why not start the next chapter with the following morning.  
> I'm still not sure just who will be in this, so if you want to see anyone, give me a shout out  
> Choose zombie or human, and I'll make it happen.  
> Don't worry, none of the zombies die.  
> That... is probably actually the opposite of what you normally want,  
> But this is totally going to be like Warm Bodies, so in this case, it's a good thing.  
> And don't worry, that's more like... the general feel, not the exact story. Mirrored, but not exactly copied?  
> I promise, you'll enjoy it.  
> Well, I will, so you might?
> 
> I've had too much coffee!  
> Comments are equivalent to coffee, they make me spew words out of my fingers onto a screen, which gives you enjoyment, so really, it's a small price to pay. ;)


	2. A dangerous mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will, Lou, Cecil and Clarisse set off beyond the safety of their town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps I should have been more clear in my first chapter, this is a long fic.  
> Nice a slow going. multi-chapter, and it will definitely follow the same background idea of Zombies from Warm Bodies,  
> But it'll have its own plots and things.  
> I'm just borrowing the zombie idea, is all.

Will woke up to warm sunlight on his face, leaking in through a crack in the thin white curtains covering his window.  His father had yet to wake him, so it was probably somewhere close to six in the morning still.  He’d been so restless the night before that he turned in directly after dinner, and had probably gotten something close to ten hours of sleep.  Rolling out of bed, he decided to call it good enough.

The house was dead quiet, so he ate a light breakfast and took a quick shower, before getting dressed in a thin cotton tee shirt and a pair of cargo pants.  It wasn’t until he was already lacing up his army boots that he heard his sister open her bedroom door, shuffling sleepily into his room, pieces of grass green bangs sticking straight up, in stark contrast to the rest of her golden blonde hair.

“Morning,” she mumbled, blinking sleepy blue eyes at him, staring somewhere slightly above his head.

He smiled at her, double knotting the lace before rising to his feet.  “Morning, Kayla.  Sleep well?”

“Hardly,” she huffed, rubbing aggressively at her eyes.  “I couldn’t stop worrying about you all night, and I probably only got like five hours total of sleep.  You better come back, Will, or I’m going to be so mad at you.”

Closing the distance between them swiftly, he pulled her into a warm hug. She squeaked quietly in protest before burrowing her face into his chest, hugging him back nearly twice as fiercely.  “Don’t worry about me, I’m going to be fine.  I promise.  What kind of big brother would I be if I left my little sister all alone?”

“A terrible one,” she hummed, pulling back to grin up at him.  Her eyes finally shone a little clearer, though she yawned a few times, glancing longingly at her bedroom door.

“You can go back to sleep,” he probed, knowing how much the girl enjoyed her rest.

Waving a hand dismissively, she yawned again.  “That’s alright, there will be plenty of time to go back to sleep after you’re gone.  It’s Saturday, so it’s not like I have anywhere to be.”

He nodded thoughtfully, glancing around the room one last time to assure he wasn’t forgetting anything.  “I can make you some pancakes or something if you’d like,” he finally offered, turning back to gauge his sister’s reaction.

Tilting her head to the side, eyes narrowed slightly while contemplating the words.  Finally, she smiled brightly.  “Yes, pancakes would be splendid.  Did you already eat yet?”

“I did, but I don’t mind making some for just you.”

“Make extra, mom will like them when she wakes up.”  Shuffling nervously from foot to foot, she chewed on her lower lip.  “Are you going to say bye to her before you go?”  Her tone was nonchalant, but her eyes shimmered with worry.

Ushering her out of the room, he pursed his lips before sighing.  “I don’t think so, no.  I told her as much last night, and you know she needs her rest.  I’ll be fine, Kayla, so you don’t need to worry about anything.  It’s only two days, and then I’ll never leave the town again.”  She opened her mouth to argue, but he held his hand up.  “Yes, never say never, but in my case, it’s probably true.”

Kayla deflated for a moment, twirling a lock of shoulder-length blonde hair around her finger.  Pulling it tight against her upper lip, it gave off the look of an overly long mustache.  “Alright, but I still think she wouldn’t mind too much if you just popped in and said a quick goodbye, just to be safe.  You aren’t the only one I’m worried about here, you know.”

Frowning, he pulled the eggs out of the fridge, kicking the door closed with his foot.  “Don’t talk like that, mom is going to be fine.  Both of us will still be here in two days, so cut out the morbid thoughts.”

Plopping into a chair at the small kitchen table, her fingers drummed absentmindedly along the wooden surface.  “I know, but I can’t help worrying about everyone all the time.  All three of you, dad included.  I always wonder if I’ll never see one again, so I try to make sure you know that I love each one of you, just in case.”

The egg cracked messily against the side of the bowl, dropping a small piece of the shell down into the floury mixture.  Fishing it out with his finger, he cast her a sidelong glance.  “We all know, Kayla, and I’m sure you know that we love you back.  Besides, I worry enough for the both of us, so you don’t need to.  You just enjoy being a teenager.”

“You’re two years older, Will, not five.  You are also too young to worry about everyone,” she pointed out, dryly.

Nodding, he beat the mixture until it was smooth, with only a few lumps.  “I know, but I’m the oldest, so it’s my job to worry.  Your job is to make friends and have a good time and be carefree.  Learn how to dance, or something.  Go to culinary school or teach children.”

She frowned hard at that, and he laughed.  “Sexist,” she huffed, folding arms over her chest.

“You know I meant it in the these are your hobbies and dreams sort of way, little sister.  You love kids and food.  The dancing thing was just random.”

“What if I want to be a doctor,” she asked, looking fiercely determined all of a sudden.

He shrugged in response, smiling softly as he poured batter onto the hot griddle.  “That’s good, too.  You would make a great doctor.  You already help out with mom a lot, and you know I wouldn’t mind having to put up with you in the same field.  Just make sure you do what you want to, not what you feel obligated to do, okay?  That’s all I care about.”

“I will,” she promised, and he smiled again.

When the pancakes were finished, he handed her the plate, watching for a moment as she devoured the first few bites, hardly pausing to breathe.  Closing her eyes, she gave a low groan of appreciation, smiling happily with chipmunk cheeks.

“That good, huh,” he quipped, teasing the girl a little.

She chewed thoroughly before pointing at him with her fork.  “You should have been the chef in the family, your pancakes are way better than mine.”

“That’s because I actually pay attention when cooking, and don’t burn them,” he hummed in soft amusement.

Rolling her eyes, she stuffed another large bite into her mouth, mumbling around it.  “Yeah, whatever.”

* * *

 

By the time they found themselves outside the base, strapping on their survival packs, and double checking their supplies, it was a quarter past eight o clock.  The sun was perched just above a dip in the far-off mountains, the grass underfoot wet from the newly melted dew.

“It gets cold at night still, so be sure to find safety inside somewhere before you turn in.  A lot of the buildings have areas you can keep a small campfire, but use your judgment wisely.  Fire attracts, so use it sparingly, and always be on guard.  The sentries will keep a watchful eye out for your return, and we’ll have hot food waiting, so let that be your motivation to hurry back.”

Apollo sized the four of them up, before giving a curt nod.  “You have everything you should need, first aid kits, rope, knives, emergency flares in case you get separated, Mylar blankets for warmth, trail mix and dried meat, a canteen of water.  The rest is up to you.  Remember your training and you’ll be fine.”

“Yes, sir,” they chorused, following the man as he led them over to the large metal gates that marked the entrance and exit to their little town.

The outer wall was at least fifteen-foot high, so not much could be seen over it, no matter where you stood in the town.  The height was just as much for their safety as it was for peace of mind. 

The settlement had been developed on the outskirts of their former town, anyway, so there weren’t very many large towering buildings nearby, but the last anyone had really seen of the landscape, it was charred and blackened, littered with trash and the bodies of the slain.  It was easier to just forget about that stuff if they didn’t have a constant reminder glaring them in the face.

With a low groan of rusted metal on metal, the military style doors cranked ever open, stopping with an echoing screech when there was enough room to slip past.  It took too long to manually open them in their entirety, and just as long to close them back up, so unless they were hauling in a massive load, the doors remained mostly closed tight.

“Good luck to you all.  Clarisse has the information you'll need, but you won’t have trouble knowing what to look for.  Head West until you reach the downtown area, then it’s anyone’s guess from there.  You’ll have plenty of time, so pace yourselves, and as I said, you will need to stay the night, so expect to have a little downtime for a break or two along the way.  It’s the most dangerous in the condensed areas, but also the easiest to hide and plan an escape.  Wide open areas show danger, but leave you vulnerable without anywhere to go.”

They nodded in unison as he reviewed the information they already knew from their training course.

Finally, he gave a tight smile, all lips, and no teeth. “I’ve done all I can to prepare you, now it’s up to you guys to succeed or fail.”

With a final wave, they slipped past the gate, one by one, until all four stood outside the only place they could call home.  Metal screeched and groaned as it began its close, and before long, the rumbling sound of it locking shut behind them signaled their missed chance to turn back.

It was different than he remembered but in a pleasant sort of way.  The ground was lush and thick with overgrowth, the pocked surface bare in places, but more or less empty of debris.  Few scorch marks remained visible beneath the growth of new weeds, but the occasional half-charred tree still rose from the ground, ever the reminder of the rash of fires in the area.

To the right, he could see the large pile of trash they’d accumulated steadily, though most of what could be recycled into building materials and other useful items had already been spared.  That left behind either items too large to bother with, or plastics that were more or less obsolete in their city.  It was far easier to reuse metal than to melt toxic plastics down into something new.

He didn’t see any human or animal remains, which was a relief, but he didn’t expect to remain so lucky the further they got from the wall.  It was beyond evident that their scouts had cleaned the immediate area of unsightly things, but there was only so far they’d be willing to go before it became pointless, and they’d give up. 

The organic matter would be mostly decomposed in six years anyway, so hopefully, they’d be spared a gruesome sight.  Of course, not all things would have died so long ago. Teams went out all the time with less than half returning alive. That didn't stop him from hoping that the culmination of scavenging predators, among other things, would leave mostly bones in their wake. It was easier to witness than bloat and rot. 

Will was no stranger to death. Having chosen the medical field, he had to slice open cadavers from time to time and figure out their cause of death on more than one gruesome occasion. That didn’t mean it didn’t turn his stomach still, seeing human bodies look that way.

The group set off at a moderate pace, aiming toward the vast area of downtown region visible even from their location four or so miles away.  The sun shone down pleasantly warm, so they took a break halfway through, making sure to stay hydrated while the chance still arose.  Once they’d made it inside the thick expanse of the buildings, their guard would need to remain poised and ready for attack.

The forested area they had begun in steadily gave way to what once was farming land, though now looked more like empty fields of dry grasses, and bare patches of dirt.  The remnants of buildings left untouched by flame still stood, in some semblance of the term, though their shells were a hollow cry from the once lovely structures he knew them to be.

On the outskirts of the suburban area, they made a point to remain close together, walking in sets of two to maintain a good range of sight.  Nothing disturbed them, however, aside from the occasional rabbit that scampered past whenever they got too close, or the small herd of deer he caught sight of, picking their way through the remains of old trash.

It was quiet, uneventful, and though a part of him was glad they’d gotten that far without issue, another tiny part of him was disappointed he didn’t get to utilize his skill set further than walking in a straight line and avoiding large pieces of debris. 

It had been years since he’d seen one of the monsters in person, and a strange part wanted to see one again, just know look at them in a scientific sort of way.  Diseases and how they worked inside the body had always fascinated him, it was one of the reasons he wanted to be a part of the medical field, even before the outbreak happened.  That, and to help out people like his mom.

By the time the sun rose directly overhead, they had finally made it to the thickening area of large buildings, some crumbled in places, some relatively unscathed.  In these places, too, the plant life had begun to already reclaim the ground, cracking open the cement sidewalks and lifting up pieces of road.  Vines climbed their way up walls, wrapping, choking, and breaking through the places they touched.  Even the cars sat discarded along the road were slowly consumed by nature, held down and crushed by chains made from twisting ropes of emerald life.

It gave the place a sort of urban jungle kind of feeling, with animals using the thickest of vines the way they would branches in trees, building nests, or even just climbing around them to get from place to place.  At one point, he was pretty sure he even saw a monkey, probably long escaped from the old zoo not far from there, swinging along the fifth story of an old bank.  It was hard to know for certain, the creature moved so fast, it was long gone by the time he focused attention on the place it disappeared to.

“We should probably start looking in some of these buildings,” Clarisse murmured, pulling his attention back down to earth.  No one had really spoken in so long, it was surprising to hear human sound again.  “I doubt they’ve all been looked through, and we might find some of the materials we need inside.  I think we should split into groups, we’ll cover more ground that way.”

Cecil and Lou shared a concerned look, Lou Ellen chewing on her lip anxiously.  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.  We’re safer when we’re all together, and no offense to Cecil, but we’re both sitting ducks compared to you and Will.”

Clarisse rolled her eyes like Lou was stupid for pointing out the obvious.  “Which is why you two won’t be going together.  Cecil with me, you with Will.  I can protect Cecil enough that his lack of skill won’t really matter, and you are still good with crafting weapons, even if you aren’t as good with your guns.  If at all possible, just avoid detection.  We don’t want all the noise drawing any things to us.”

Will nodded.  “I think that sounds reasonable.  We have flares if necessary, so if you for some reason get trapped somewhere, make a lot of noise and shoot one off.  The smoke cloud lasts for five minutes, so it should be plenty of time to figure out where anyone is.  Meet back here in three hours, or as close to it as you can get.  We’ll go from there once we know where we are at.”

“What kind of materials are we looking for, here,” Lou asked, looking to Clarisse for the answer.

That seemed to make the girl swell with pride, though he wasn’t sure why.  “We’re mostly looking for microchips that are still viable in any kind of electronic device.  If you find any silver, iron, or stores of any kind of oil, we’re supposed to pile it up, and remember the placement on this map here,” she held it up for emphasis.  “They’ll send people out with the trucks to collect it, later.  Also, anything useful for medical, even old bandages, and things like that.  Apollo told me we are mostly doing this to save them time later, and as a test of our knowledge.”

“Why microchips,” Cecil asked, frowning.

Will shrugged.  “Silicon.”  When he got only blank stares in response, he sighed.  “Silicon is used for solar energy.  Microchips are made of crystalline silicon.  We can each carry over two hundred, easy, which could make numerous solar panels.”

Lou’s eye went wide with surprise.  “Are we expected to find so many?  That could take forever.”

Clarisse and Will both shook their heads but Will was the one to respond.  “I’m sure we’re just supposed to focus on what we can get done today.  With so many office buildings, probably numerous phones, faxes, printers, computers; I’m sure it’ll be more time consuming to retrieve the chips than it will be hard to find them.  Just don’t forget to stay away from the yellow paint.”

Clarisse chipped in.  “Which reminds me, buildings with a yellow X on the lower level mean already cleared of useful materials.  When the scouts come in, they try to focus on one place at a time, so a lot of things are still relatively untouched.  We won’t have time to do more than one ourselves if we’re lucky, so don’t worry about checking everything.  Just go for what looks immediately useful.”

Cecil and Lou both nodded, though neither looked very pleased.  Will figured they probably expected something more action-packed and adventurous for a first mission, but in the end, the only real action they’d see would be with breaking open machines.  If they were lucky, that is.

With everyone set to go, they split up, Will and Lou Ellen taking the old bank building, and Cecil and Clarisse deciding to check out the multilevel office building across from it.  With the promise to return within only a few hours, they didn’t have time to spare with talking.  Night would fall soon, and they’d need to set up a safe base before that happened.

* * *

 

The building was dark inside, and colder than he’d expected.  Lou Ellen hugged herself for warmth, the sound of her teeth chattering a constant distraction as they made their way from floor to floor.  Light peeked through the dirty windows, some of them broken out to allow more inside, others penetrated by vines that slowly encroached in on the building, hopeful to conquer the innermost area as well.

The two maneuvered their way through fallen debris, pulling out tools to break into the occasional computer found sitting behind the counter, or phone hanging disconnected along the wall.  So far they had already found close to one hundred microchips, and it had only been an hour, at most.  He’d given them all to Lou for safekeeping, not really caring if it looked like he hadn’t accomplished much.  This mission was less for him than it was for his friends.

The higher up they climbed, the harder it was to see without an extra source of light.  He hadn’t wanted to use artificial means to get around with, but the stairwells leading up through the building were pitch black with the doors closed, and not even blocking the heavy metal open helped to alleviate the entirety of the problem.  They took careful steps in their ascension, keeping close to walls, and clinging tightly to guardrails before Will gave up and clicked on his solar-powered flashlight.

Cold white light flooded the little room, allowing enough visibility to further ascend.  The sound of grating metal on metal rumbled somewhere behind him, followed by the creak of hinges, and the echoing cry of a door slamming below.

Will glared hard at his friend, eyes narrowed slightly in apprehension.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, pink flooding her cheeks.  “I thought I propped it open better than that.”

Heaving a sigh, he shook his head.  “Well, let’s hope it didn’t attract anything.  Come on, nothing to be done about it, now.”

At the top of the landing, the door took both of their weight pushing hard before it slowly opened.  An overturned filing cabinet was the culprit, having pushed itself against the door, probably as the people inside panicked.  Old paper littered the ground, yellowed slightly with age, caked with grime and dust.  It was clear from looking that no one else had stepped foot there since the last person left it years before.

The air was thick and cold, the taste of musky antique filling his nose and mouth, making him cough.  Each step deeper kicked up wave after wave of particles, the two of them having to hook the collar of their shirts over their noses in order to avoid the worst of it entering their airways.  Who knows what kind of nasty things lived alongside the harmless mites, or how it would hurt them should they breathe it in for long.

“Maybe we should break a window, let some of this stuff escape while getting a little fresh air,” Lou wheezed, squinting hard to prevent the stuff from getting into her eyes.

He shook his head.  “I think we should just leave.  It’s not safe without protective gear.  We’ll just double check all the other floors, and call it good.  Maybe there is other useful stuff we overlooked.”

She agreed and they left, back down the flight of stairs, sweeping the length of each floor once again and only finding another two more overlooked electronics.  By the time they stepped back out into the warm fresh air, they were covered in soot, looking more like they’d climbed through an old chimney than scoured over a five-story building.

It didn’t take long for Cecil and Clarisse to appear, less dirty than he and Lou, but more than when they’d said their goodbyes.  Cecil grinned at Lou, sizing her up with an appreciative look.  “Well, someone had more fun than we did,” he chirped, dusting himself off in vain.  “Did you roll on the floor, or were you just that unlucky?”

Lou rolled her green eyes.  “It was really caked on the top floor.  We didn’t even check it out, it was too hard to breathe.”

“That’s okay, we did pretty well, so it doesn’t really matter,” Clarisse said, eyes searching the area carefully.  “There was a strange noise a little while ago, so we should be on alert, just in case.”

Will shot Lou another withering look, causing her to shift about awkwardly.  “Sorry, that was my fault.  Didn’t do a good job propping open a heavy door.”

Clarisse joined in on the sour expression, pursing her lips in disapproval.  “Well let’s hope nothing heard us.  We should move out away from this area, just in case.  Find a good place to sleep for the night.  Back the way we came is probably best.  I saw a gated area that was probably safer than out here in the open, we could check it out.”  The three nodded in agreement, and they set off in search of their camp.

The building in question was probably an old car rental lot, though it was hard to tell since the sign fell down.  A small little hut sat in the center of a wide parking lot area, with a lot of cars still parked within.  The fence was still mostly intact, the mechanism that controlled the gate long since burned out, so they had to opt for climbing over it, over going through.

Inside the small building looked much like a typical rental office, with nice comfy armchairs set up along one wall, the roped off area for customers to stand in still more or less perfectly intact.  Clarisse unclipped the retractable belt-like strip, adding it to her bag with a pleased look on her face.

“Well, this is good for me,” Lou commented, plopping into one of the chairs.  “I mean, it’s enclosed, we have these large windows here to keep a lookout, we have these nice places to sit, and I don’t think anything is going to come over that fence anytime soon.  So yeah, we should just sit back and wait until morning.”

Cecil nodded in agreement, taking the chair closest to Lou’s.  “I concur.  It meets all the requirements we need, no more, no less.  Which is perfect for me, I enjoy when it’s easy.”

Clarisse looked like she wanted to argue, but as her brown eyes scanned the area, they grew less and less hard, finally giving in with a soft sigh.  “Fine, but let it be known I picked this place from the get-go.  You two had nothing to do with it, aside from agreeing.”

Shrugging, the two nodded in unison.  “Fine by me,” they chorused, then grinned at one another.

“I’m just going to do a quick perimeter check, to be safe,” Will mumbled, still feeling a little uneasy.  “You guys sit tight, maybe eat something.  We should also figure out what we’re going to do about dinner; if we want to hunt, or call what we already have good enough.”

He left the little building, walking along the length of fence, checking for any breaks that might need to be boarded up, or weak spots to keep an eye on.  The entire lot seemed more or less completely stable, the only real entrance along an area of the cement wall, which only sat about three feet high, and spanned the entirety of one side, splitting the block into two separate areas.  The area beyond appeared to be much the same, another car rental place, with its own tall fence protecting the remainder of the area.

Satisfied with his assessment, he turned to leave, never noticing the dark shape watching him from across the conjoined parking lot, creeping steadily closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was long, and slow.  
> Sorry, but action comes next chapter,  
> And also a POV change.  
> If you didn't think Nico would get his own POV, you're silly. :)  
> It'll definitely be interesting to write a zombie perspective, but also fun, and funny at times.  
> Hopefully I do it justice. :D
> 
> Comments make me smile. Nothing you can say is ever not appreciated. :)


	3. A zombie perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mind of a zombie is a strange place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare for a Nico POV.  
> Prepare for it to sometimes sound more intelligible than a zombie would probably sound, I can't bring myself to dumb down my language just to be convincing. I tried.

Memories flickered somewhere far away, like a long-forgotten dream.  A girl, a place, a feeling.  They meant something, but he didn’t know what.  Everything was a jumbled mess, a sea of rippling waves; only the waves were things he should know, and they were beating against him incessantly, pulling him down into a chaotic spiral of sights, sounds, images, and sensations.  Mostly, it just felt cold.

He took a step, and then another, limbs knowing what to do, even as he couldn’t begin to put a name to the actions.  What was this, this thing he was doing?  Why was he doing it?  Where was he headed?  How long had he been going there?  Nothing made sense, not even the way he knew that nothing made sense.  Something was adherently wrong, of that, he was certain.

Another flash; skin the color of creamed coffee, eyes the color of molten gold.  They looked… concerned, even as the emotion meant absolutely nothing to him.  Hair the color of cinnamon, the feeling of warm arms, wrapped in a fierce embrace.  Tears dripped down onto his pale skin, only it wasn’t so pale, and definitely never this grey.  The look of hands now seemed so much different from those… memories he didn’t understand.

And he kept moving, feet shuffling forward to somewhere he didn’t know, eyes not even really noticing the way landscape changed, or the way time moved ever onward.  It was only him, these memories, and the movements his body created without permission.  Not that he would have stopped them if he could.  It made no difference what he did, or where he went.  Upon arrival, he would still remain ever… confused.

There were others, people like him, ones who looked just as lost.  He could tell the difference between them and… other different ones… loud noise making… things that ran away whenever they saw him.  Something about the way the ones who looked like him made him feel, mostly… apathetic, as opposed to the insatiable pang from the hunger he felt whenever the others came around.  It told him they were the same way.

Plus, they didn’t smell as nice.  Kind of terrible, if he was honest.  The others, they smelled good, like… something that you just wanted to put inside your mouth.  He didn’t, in the end, but not for lack of trying.  Something just held him back, kept him from joining in whenever one was overrun.  It even made him feel… ashamed?  He didn’t understand shame.  Not really.

The weirder ones, those were what he ate.  They looked different from him, running around on all of their limbs, not just the two.  They had different sized ones, different… shapes and the stuff that covered them was sometimes differently colored, even when they looked the same way.  Those didn’t smell as good, but it helped with the pangs, so he devoured as much as possible.  They were also hard to catch, but he was really good at sneaking up on them, though he didn’t quite know why he did that, it just kind of happened.

Mostly he just walked.  Sometimes he stopped to try and communicate with the ones like him, but they didn’t do much more than stare back; though a few didn’t even do that much.  Their eyes didn’t hold the same… thing he knew should have been there, the thing he saw in the others, or even in the weirder ones.  They just looked empty, and it made him want to go away, so he didn’t do it very often anymore.

One thing he did notice, and it made him feel strange when he did, was that he kept going around and around the same things.  It wasn’t quite at first, when he was still the most confused, but a pattern had formed, and he started to notice the others did the same thing, as well.  It was when he noticed it, that he decided… just not doing it was probably an option; and then, things… changed.

He started to… notice things, started making himself go one place, because he wanted to, not because his legs were already taking him there.  He broke the loop, and though nothing else seemed to notice the break, he felt a little less confused.  He even had a new… flicker happen, one with someone he knew was different from the girl, which meant it was a boy, only his face was lined, and his hair had grey colors as well as black ones.  The people felt the same to him, but they were also different.  And it made him… happy?

He didn’t know what that was, but it sounded… right.

Sometimes it was dark out, and sometimes it was light out, but it didn’t mean anything to him, except moving became harder when it was dark.  He stopped trying to do it, and it made him feel that happy thing, even though he still didn’t know what that was really, and it broke another loop.  His mouth did something weird.  It felt nice, so he did it again, even if it kind of hurt at the same time.

On one of the walks, he found somewhere he’d never been before.  Inside was nice, different from the normal places, so he tried to stay there when the dark came, and his mouth did the thing, so he knew it made him… happy was definitely the word for it, not only because it felt right, but also because he almost… remembered. 

He found new things he didn’t know inside the place, used his hands to pick them up, moved them around some, then moved them back where they were.  It was… fun, even though he didn’t know what fun was, but he continued to do it because he could do it.  He remembered the word alive, and it made him… smile was definitely what that thing was that he kept doing.  Something told him it wasn’t very common, even from before, but he decided he would start now.

On this went, little pieces of things slowly coming back the more and more he broke a cycle he wasn’t even sure why he felt obligated to complete.  He knew words, names, things, uses; and it all felt good, and it made him feel a little bit better.  The fog lifted steadily, and he even remembered his own name.  It was Nico, and at one point in time, he had been human.  Which unfortunately meant he wasn’t anymore.

* * *

 

It was kind of like a game he played.  First, he’d approach a fellow zombie, which was a term he really didn’t approve of, once it also applied to him, and he’d change something about their routine.  Something small, maybe leaving something in their path, or taking something away from it.  Then he’d sit back and watch the hilarity ensue.  Sometimes, nothing happened.  Others, the zombie would stop, stare hard at whatever was or wasn’t there, and then moan for a while, before continuing onward. 

Was it mean to mess with his fellow brethren?  Perhaps, but that didn’t stop him from getting a kick out of it.  Communication with them was pointless, not that he could really speak more than single word sentences on the occasion his mouth listened to his brain, which probably wasn’t actually what had happened, seeing as how he was dead.  Or... not dead?

In the event he got their attention, aside from them moving out of his pathway, or glancing at him for all of two seconds, they’d only look back with confused expressions, though one or two times, it even seemed to enrage one.  He stayed away from that zombie, even decided to call him Bob.  Bob sounded like a good name for a grumpy zombie, fitting in a way that made him continue to use it whenever he saw him.

Luckily for Nico, Bob was in a part of town he didn’t frequent much.  Even though he’d managed to pick up the snail-like pace he’d started out walking with, he was still quite slow.  The new place he’d made into his home was still a half days walk from the edges of tall… buildings.  Downtown?  So, he’d made a point to stick on that same side, just so he had a place to remain through the… night.

Nothing interesting really happened in the outside world, so, he preferred to mess around with whatever contraptions he already had on hand, occasionally adding a new one if he stumbled upon something interesting.  A lot of things were interesting to him, but some of them were too big to move, so he had to leave them behind.

The best thing he found inside the house was an old record player, which somehow still managed to work properly, but only when he kept it by the curtain-less window.  If he moved it away, or even around to face a different direction, it stopped working.  This led him to believe it was probably witchcraft because there really wasn’t another explanation for something like that.

That was one thing his body knew what to do, finding the stack of old records sitting inside of a crate, slipping it from the protective… paper… before setting it down on the surface of the player.  With the needle intact, the machine would whirr to life, filling the emptiness with beautiful things.

Playing music was fun, and finally hearing people speaking somewhere that wasn't inside his memories was a lovely change from the groans of his brethren or the silence of the house.  Even if it was all one-sided, continuously the same words, and never directed intentionally at him, it was still a pleasant thing to do.  It was at times like that Nico realized he was… lonely.  Not just for sounds, but for actual people to make them.

One of the days while roaming the city streets, he heard a noise that piqued his interest.  It was like a loud crash, echoing against the desolate buildings from a place somewhere close by, vibrating inside of him with curious intent.  It could be nothing, zombies accidentally destroyed stuff all the time, and the structures of the large buildings weakened steadily, the occasional one moaning for days before it crumbled from within.

This sound was different somehow, and he knew to keep cautious as he slunk his way toward its source.  It only happened the one time, and after searching for a little while with no sure sign anything was changed, he’d almost given up the fruitless act.  When the golden thing finally stepped out from a building thirty or so feet away, accompanied by a darker, paler girl, his heart felt like it skipped a beat.

That was impossible, of course, as it didn’t ever beat, seeing as how he was most definitely, without a doubt, no longer living; but the description of the sensation felt correct, so he pretended it was the truth.  Either way, seeing the living people gave him joy, so he watched them as they conversed, too far to hear what they said with their hushed voices, too afraid of them fleeing to move closer to distinguish tone and context.

When they left shortly thereafter, with even more humans, he followed them to see where they were headed.  It was a short walk, but with their completely functioning limbs, he found himself falling further and further behind, until the only indication they were still near was the tiny speck on the horizon. That, too, eventually disappeared.

To say he felt panicked would be an exaggeration, he couldn’t really feel emotions in quite the same way, but it was similar with the strange sense he got when he dropped a new thing and it broke, so he decided it was bad.  Bad, and a little sad.

Since he was already walking the direction back home, he permitted himself to continue back early, hating the slow-moving body that only seemed to pick up speed whenever hunger propelled him forward.  It was much like a light switch.  On, or off; there was no in-between.  He could go agonizingly slow, or quick enough to chase down those horned animals, but not much else. 

A tantalizing scent floated through the air, but he ignored it, preferring to punish himself with not satisfying his curiosity since it seemed a fitting choice.  It was probably just fresh blood, maybe from a wounded animal of some kind, as that always seemed to smell pretty great.

The fact he hadn’t eaten anything in three days wasn’t lost on him, but he ignored the pang it caused, preferring to hunt closer to his home where there was a better selection than small creatures that ran too swiftly.

Panicked noises pierced the silence, the loud cry of shots fired making him jump.  It was coming from just up ahead, only a block or so away, so he decided to check it out, mostly since it might just be the humans he’d lost sight of.  Limbs continued their slowed pace, but before long, he could see the commotion, and it interested him enough to stop short and watch.

The biggest one was hiding behind an old car across the lot from him, firing away from Nico at the group of congregated zombies trying to take down the metal fence, without much luck.  It seemed the big one was having trouble hitting anywhere worthwhile, the majority of… her… bullets ricocheting off the little metal links instead of the targets.

The dark haired one that was male was taking care of those who were slowly trying to scramble beneath the gate, while the pale dark haired girl aided him, combining things together, before throwing it at the group like a little bomb.  The tiny explosive thing kept them away for a moment, but it didn’t work for long, and soon they were back at their attempts once more.

The only one he cared about viewing was nowhere in sight, which was odd, so he walked along the length of fence to see if he could be found.  Sure enough, once Nico passed an area separated by a cement wall, he saw the golden one hastily trying to mend a human-sized hole in the fence, three unmoving zombies laying in broken angles along the ground.

The picture of everything that had transpired was slowly becoming clear in his mind.  The humans were swarmed, but so long as they stayed inside the fence, they were probably going to remain safe.  It was sad to admit, but his kind wasn't exactly the smartest bunch.  They didn’t think in normal terms, and until recently, he hadn’t, either.

Now his thoughts lay somewhere betwixt the two.  Not quite a zombie, but certainly not cognitive like a human.  The lack of terms and understanding of simple things alone was enough to make that glaringly apparent.  Nico just kind of… was.  Straddling the edge of two worlds, belonging to neither completely.

He wasn’t going to interfere, really, but then that wondrous scent caught the breeze as it blew past him, wafting up his nostrils in a heavenly manner.  It was like… warm… sunlight?  Baked bread, heady earth, and the underlying aroma of something absolutely delicious.  The muscles in his legs suddenly loosened, his movements becoming a little more fluid as he picked up speed down the side of the building.

All he wanted to do was get a slightly closer look, maybe catch that wonderful scent and assure himself it really was coming from the boy; but a mass moved out from its hiding place in the shadows, charging the golden one from behind, and without a single warning, going in for the kill.  He wanted to scream out, shout some kind of message to help, but the only sounds he was able to make were oddly chilling, and quite unlike his usual ones.

The snarl that ripped from his vocal chords must have been enough in the end, because the boy turned suddenly, eyes going wide with shock, dancing out of harm’s way at the final second before impact.  The enraged zombie smacked head-on into the fence, busting through the meager patch job the boy had been able to accomplish, only remaining dazed for a millisecond before it seemed to regain complete consciousness.  Spinning around, it screeched a terrible sound, then charged once more.

The golden one took off running, heading back toward the safety of the high cement wall.  While it was true that it would hinder the zombie slightly, the chest height meant eventually the thing would amble its way over, only buying a maximum of five minutes to prepare.  It would most likely be enough time to take care of the monster, but only time would tell.

Part of him wanted to sit back and watch it all, remaining safely out of harm’s way from the obvious threat.  Zombies may seem mindless, but they also have a distinct survival skill that should never be scoffed at.  For instance, even the hungriest of zombies would never attack a large group of humans, even if they could manage to snag one or two before being gunned down.  Food wasn’t worth dying for. 

The will to continue on was probably the strongest sense he had, the ability to decipher threat from easy target saving his life on more than one occasion already.  So it was that he found himself faced with a decision that went against his very nature, with neither option sounding preferred in the end.  He could watch, or he could act.

He didn’t want to harm the humans, had been against it from the start, without ever really knowing why.  But he did want to help; almost as much as he yearned to live.  Thus was the conundrum, helping meant a chance of death, while not meant watching others die.

The golden one attempted to scramble over the wall, and he probably would have made it easily, but his bag caught onto a piece of rusty metal pole sticking out from the grey concrete, and it yanked him hard back down to the ground mid-vault.  The low groan that escaped his lips said that it wasn’t a pleasant experience, and he laid there for a moment until the panicked look returned, and he scrambled away just in time to avoid the zombie again.

This time, he shot off back toward the hole in the fence, slipping through with ease, probably trying to draw the thing out.  It worked, of course, the zombie too enraged by missing the meal to bother noticing there were still three other potential victims the other direction, and if Nico really thought hard, he understood why.  Easy targets were always preferred to difficult ones, and this kid was pretty much a sitting duck.

With no weapons to defend himself with, armed with a satchel and a useless bow, considering he didn’t appear to have any arrows on him, the best he could hope for was to outrun the thing.  In an act that Nico assumed was smarter than it was foolhardy, the boy took off away from the madness waiting around the corner behind them, hopping over bits of debris, trying to lose the creature in the mess.

Without knowing why, Nico followed, limbs already slackened from their usual tense state by the thrill of the hunt.  It didn’t matter that he wasn’t keen on ingesting the poor guy, his body was going to react to its instincts regardless of how his… emotionless emotions felt.

He caught sight of the boy running down a cross-street and decided it wouldn’t hurt to try and meet him on the other end.  Taking the turn on the opposite side, he wrapped the length of the building, skittering out on the adjacent street in time to witness the look of shock playing on those beautiful features as the boy realized there weren’t just one, but two zombies after him now.

Of course, Nico wasn’t going to hurt him, but he couldn’t exactly communicate that. When he tried, it came out in a creepy, low growl; not unlike a dog. 

_Nice, Nico, very reassuring._

There wasn’t time to plan anything, and in the moment of hesitation he had created with his appearance, the other zombie tackled hard into the poor guy’s back, sending him crashing to the rubble covered cement with a sickening crack.  Before the thing could do damage, Nico picked up a rock and knocked it hard into the other’s face.  It probably wasn’t enough to kill it, but he didn’t mind.  Killing a fellow zombie felt almost as wrong as killing a human.  Almost.

Assessing the damage, he rolled the guy over, hit with the unmistakable aroma of wet, fresh, delicious blood.  Hunger raked tempting claws through his insides, but he fought it back, checking to ensure the gash along tan skin wasn’t a skull fracture, opening limp eyelids and checking the dilation of pupils.  When everything seemed okay, he sat down on the ground, wondering what to do.

The boy was out cold, and who knew how long it would be before he woke up.  There were still other threats in the area, not just for this one, but for himself, as well.  Even just the unconscious zombie laying utterly motionless a couple feet away was enough of a worry that he couldn’t just leave him there.  But neither could he drop him back off inside that fence, risking death in the process.

That left one option, taking him with.  Part of him was…  something close to happy, but with more energy; and another part was worried.  Just because he wasn’t a threat to the golden one, didn’t mean Nico was safe.  In the end, he found himself hoisting the body over his shoulder, feeling a little wobbly due to the added weight.  Luckily for him, the scent of blood kept his limbs fluid, or he would have been walking around for half the night, carrying the dead weight.

A cry pierced the air, followed by a gunshot, and a strange feeling in his arm.  Turning around, he watched as the pale girl was dragged off sobbing by the darker haired boy, the gun in her hand trembling as she attempted to aim it at him again.

The only words he caught were ‘you might hit him, too,’ and ‘get back to safety.’  He didn’t stick around, sprinting away into the steadily darkening cover of buildings.  When it was safe, he’d head home.  Until then, he’d wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snap, Will has been captured by the completely harmless zombie Nico!  
> He's in for a nice surprise, once he comes back to consciousness.  
> I think from here on out, it'll be switching POV. You'll get a better picture from both sides, and Nico is going to be pretty quiet on Will's end, so I need him to have his thoughts voice his opinions. :)
> 
> Comments are like brains are for zombies. They sustain my very life force, so I might continue writing with enthusiasm. :D


	4. The shock of a lifetime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will gets his pleasant surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV change toward the end. It was getting hard for me to continue things from Will's perspective.

All around him was utter darkness.  Memories like a slideshow projection played behind his heavy eyelids, flashes of light and sound and feelings flying past at breakneck speed.  His body felt stiff and sore, his limbs encased in some unyielding substance.  Try as he might, his eyes wouldn’t respond to the signal from his brain telling them to open and assess his surroundings. 

One thing he did notice, though.  It felt strangely warm like he was wrapped up in a cocoon of some sort, soft and comforting and a little bit stifling.

A groan escaped his lips, brow furrowing as a dizzying sensation washed over him, nausea pulling hard at his insides.  His tongue was coated in a foul taste; something like dirt and blood, salty sweat and pond water.  It did nothing to help the wave of sickness he felt tumbling through his GI tract.  After a few slow breaths, the feeling ebbed back to one of containable manageability.

The abrupt sound of movement somewhere nearby sent a shock of adrenaline straight to his heart, flinching back into something cushioned yet hard, like the back of a couch.

Eyes popped open finally, adjusting to the trickle of morning light casting through a film-covered window, red-gold as it splayed its luminescence outward upon the strange new place.  It was still dim for the most part, shadows clinging to the far corners of the room, massive shapes eerie and looming in their unknown presence.  From what he could tell from a quick glance around he was utterly alone, which didn’t bode well for him in such a vulnerable state.

He didn’t remember holing up inside the old shack, didn’t know how he’d come to be nestled in a warm blanket, or the reason that his body felt like he’d fallen from some high place, or else was hit by a heavy force.  His back ached for some reason, neck stiff from being propped against the armrest for lord only knows how long; and try as he might to wiggle from the blanketed prison, it felt like his muscles had taken quite the beating and were horribly scratched up.

_Alright Will, what’s the last thing you remember?  There has to be an explanation for this.  Just think._

The fog coating his mind began to recede, crunching footsteps and loud gunshots ricocheting around his brain in perfect rhythm with his pounding pulse.  There was a hole in the fence, the zombies flocked when they caught the sounds of their fight, so he patched up the thing as best as he could.

A snarl behind him, almost like a warning sound, and then the look of ravenous insanity as the quietly approaching monster flew at his being.  Jumping out of the way, trying to get back to the weapons, getting caught on something, falling on hard ground.  Leaving the safety of their shelter to lose the thing, feet slapping hard on pavement, turning the corner and realizing his mistake.  Then only darkness.

Another small shifting sound made his breath catch in his throat, craning his neck awkwardly back to find its source.  Movement caught his eye, a dark shape slinking closer, pulling from the shadows and stepping into the soft pink light.  Pale skin, dark hair, lifeless eyes; his worst nightmare come true.

He screamed, which was probably the stupidest reaction to have in that situation, flailing about wildly as he sought to escape his confines.  Nausea rolled his stomach once more, the movement sending coils of pain straight into his gut with each new wiggle and twist.  Without a doubt, he was going to be sick.

How in the world had he managed to survive alone in that place for however long if there was a zombie nearby, and why was it just his luck that he’d come around only to immediately face death the moment he opened his eyes?

The monster drew closer, arm reaching out toward his face.  It was no use, his body was too wrecked to put up a fight, the blanket wrapped so snugly around his person that he felt like he was halfway mummified already.

The absurdity of it all was a little comical in his terrified state, considering the fact there were also myths of walking mummified corpses, much like the one he was about to be.  Might as well get to the actually dead part, and then he’d fit the bill nicely.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he waited for it to come.  Cold fingers brushed the sensitive skin along his forehead, causing a pained whimper to release from his throat.  Even as the sensation made him want to cry out, the cool touch also felt a little nice on his feverish flesh, and he had to resist the sudden sweeping urge to nuzzle into the soothing caress.

In an instant, it was gone, silence following the action in a harrowing way.  Perhaps the zombie was taking its time, figuring out which part of him it wanted to devour foremost, which was sick and twisted but also made total sense.  Zombies had to have preferences for meat cut, right?  Even wild animals learned all the best parts of their meals, forgoing the tough or unsatisfying bits to get to the real treasures.

_Oh god, why am I even thinking about this?  How morbid can I be?_

Something equally cold and wet brushed the same area as before, patting along his hairline with delicate strokes and dabs.  If he didn’t know any better, he’d say it was a cool washcloth wiping at his evidently gashed head, but that couldn’t be right because a zombie was the thing doing it to him.

Cracking open an eye he gasped at the strange sight.  Dark eyes were hard with desperate determination, or what he assumed was determination on the strangely emotionless and slackened face.  The pale grey skin was creased gently between his brows, lids sitting low on his eyes as they watched the place his fingers stroked at with care.

“What,” he asked incredulously as if he expected the zombie to just strike up a conversation in response.  For as long as he’d been taught about them, never once was it mentioned that the undead could communicate back in an intelligent manner.

The eyes flicked down to his, watching quietly for a moment before he pulled back the makeshift rag and held it up in an answer.  Dried and crusted blood flecked the yellow-grey fabric, stains of deep brown marring the area that had been pressed to his face.

“You’re… cleaning my wound?”  It was odd.  The face was void of most things, but anytime he spoke, it was almost like he saw a flicker of humanity pass over those cold eyes.  Like a trapped and dying spark of flame that searched endlessly for ignition, and his sound was something that could activate it shortly.

After a beat, the hand returned to stroking against his skin.  “Mmmmmm,” it replied, the sound a low hum that was more throaty gurgling than anything else.

_Well, that was creepy._

He sat quietly observing for some time, chewing the skin of his lip while the creature worked slowly, dipping the cloth into a tin of water to rinse it out before squeezing the excess and returning to its work.  After what was a moment of awkward silence, for him at least, he decided to speak again.

“So, you’re helping me.  Does that mean you aren’t going to kill me?”

The zombie stopped its work once more, features contorting slowly into a pained kind of look.  “Nnnnn,” it said, all tongue pressed against the back of its teeth.  After a beat of silence, it opened its mouth.  “uhhhoooo,” it finished, blue-grey lips holding the ‘o’ shape for a moment, before returning to a closed mouth expression void of all former emotion.

“Holy shit,” he breathed, eyebrows shooting high enough that the sudden sharp pain near his right temple made him wince.  Struggling and failing to sit upright, he skipped his gaze back and forth across the other’s black eyes, searching for that spark of understanding.  “Did you… did you just try to talk?”

One side of its face curled up into a semblance of a smile, head nodding slowly in conformation.

Will gasped, completely surprised by this strange development.  The zombie knew how to communicate.  “Are you the one who brought me here?”  Another slow nod of response.  “Are my friends okay?”

“Mmmm.”  It frowned a little harder, looking uncomfortable as it struggled to finish.  “Ayyyyy.”

“Maybe,” he guessed, and the zombie nodded stiffly, relief washing over its cold face.  “So, they were still alive whenever you… brought me here?”  Another nod, this time slightly faster and more fluid.

At least that was a relief.  He had no doubt in his mind that the three of them could survive, and he hoped that they weren’t stupid enough to leave their shelter just to look for him.  Lou Ellen and Cecil might want to, but Clarisse was smarter than that.  She’d talk some sense into them, and with any kind of luck, he’d make it back to them safely soon enough.

Trying and failing once more to sit up, he smiled sheepishly at the dead boy.  “Do you think you can maybe let me go from this blanket trap?  I’m feeling kind of confined here.”

Strong arms hauled him upright, untucking the corner end of cloth that had been underneath his right side with nimble fingers.  Nimble for someone dead, anyway.

With newly restored freedom of movement, he assessed the damage done to his body.  Minor scrapes on his palms, a few on his wrists, with a littering of contusions up both arms, vanishing beneath the cloth of his black shirt.  Better than expected. 

Lifting arms up above his head delicate and slow, he tested their range of motion, wincing only once the muscles in his back joined in on the languid stretch.  From what he could see of them, his legs were fine, though someone had removed both of his boots, keeping his feet contained in the short black socks.  Glancing up, he found them placed near the door.

“Thank you for helping me.  Was I attacked?  I don’t remember.”  He looked back curiously into equally curious looking black eyes, watching him as he twisted around to pop his spine noisily.  It helped moderately with his discomfort, though only just.

“Y… eeeesss,” he said, then frowned again, clenching his jaw like speaking actually hurt him somehow.  “S-s-s-saaay… vvvvvvvd.”

Will smiled at that, pleased by the rapid flow of conversation.  Rapid for a dead person, at least, which was normally limited to animalistic sounds and grunts, or screams of fury.  “Oh, you saved me?”

A nod of confirmation, almost shy in its delivery.  Could a zombie be shy?

“Hey, wait a second.”  He eyed the other critically, craning his neck to get a good look at him in his kneeled position on the floor.  The sun had risen significantly now, so they were no longer sitting in blue-black lighting, hints of yellow and white seeping into the mix of red and gold.  “You are the other zombie I saw before everything went all dark.”

The boy frowned at that, almost as if he didn’t like being referred to by such a term.  Instead of responding with speech, he nodded stiffly once more, casting his gaze down toward hands folded neatly in his lap.

Will felt a twinge of guilt.  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to call you anything… offensive.”  An idea struck him and he smiled warmly.  “Do you have a name I can refer to you as?  I’m Will, by the way.”  He held out his hand to shake, letting it sit in the open air as the boy looked up at it in mild confusion.

Dark eyes flicked up to his face, then back to the hand, before he mirrored the action hesitantly.  When Will clasped their hands together, he shivered from the icy cold sensation that crept slowly into his skin.  It was like touching someone who dipped their arm into a bucket of ice, though the malleable flesh felt different than the cadavers he had touched during his quick medical training.  It was an interesting combination of obviously living yet clearly dead.

“So, a name,” he probed, scratching his cheek in thought.  “Or maybe you don’t remember something like that?  Do you have any memories of being alive?”

When the zombie nodded, Will’s eyes lit up in happy surprise.

“Oh wow, that’s so interesting.  I always wondered if that would be the case.  Can’t say I ever thought the question would be answered, though.”  He chuckled then, feeling a little absurd for talking to a technically dead individual.  “I never thought I’d be speaking with a… ah, someone like you, either, but here I am.”  Billions of questions ran through his head, but before he could ask anything, the boy tried to speak.

“N… Nnnnn,” he said, then stopped, shifting in his seat.  His eyes took on an intense gleam and he tried again.  “N-n-n-niiiii.”

“Nick?”

Shaking his head, he tried another time.  “N…iiii…”

Will racked his brain for anything else that started with the same sound.  “Nicholas?”  The boy shook his head a second time, closing his eyes as a gentle frown creased his brow.

“N…iiiii.  Niiii.”  He stopped, either lost in thought or resigned to give up.

“I could always just call you Deathboy,” Will quipped after another beat of awkward silence. 

The boy glared at him in response.  As much as a zombie can glare, it was more of a flat look, but he got the point.  Wincing, he squeaked a quick ‘sorry,’ then waited patiently for the guy to finish.  It was only polite, after all.

“Ni…ccccc.  Niiiicccc…o.  Ni-co.”  Then he smiled softly, clearly pleased with himself.

“Nico?”  Nico nodded and Will smiled.  “Alright, Nico.  It’s nice to meet you.  Thank you again for saving me.  And, you know, not killing me while I was defenseless.”

Nico rose to his feet then, forcing Will to crane his neck slightly to look up at him.  “Hun…gry,” he asked, and for a moment Will was a little worried the zombie was making a statement about himself.

It took a minute for his brain to register that Nico was offering him the food instead.  “Oh!  I mean, yes?  But I… don’t eat people?”

The zombie smiled, rolling his eyes, if you could call it that.  It was more like looking straight up, but the message was loud and clear.  “M’ nei…ther.”  He pointed to Will’s bow laying by his bag near the doorway, then put splayed hands up by his head to pantomime horns.

Will blinked in confusion, so Nico did the same motions again, wriggling his fingers for emphasis.  “Hunt deer,” he guessed and was awarded with another smile.  Charades with a zombie, who would ever believe it if he told them?

“Y-Yes.  De…eeerrrr”

He hadn’t noticed it before, but the boy had a slight accent when he spoke.  If he had to guess, based on his name, he’d say it was probably Italian.  He had the correct features as well, minus the grey skin.  “You’re telling me you eat deer?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t kill humans?”

“No.”

“You’re strange,” Will chuckled, earning another flat looking scowl from the guy.  “But in a good way.  I mean, if you did, I’d be like you now.  So.”  Rising to his own feet on shaky legs, he noted their height differences.  Nico was probably a good four inches shorter, which meant it was his turn to tilt his head up to meet Will’s gaze.  “What do we do about food?  I don’t have any arrows, so I can’t exactly hunt.”

“I… c-can.”  Turning around, he headed for the door.  Curious, Will followed close behind.

* * *

 

It was still early, mist clinging to the ground in swirling waves of dense vapor, high enough that it brushed past his knees as he trekked across the soft grass.  The scent of blood was strong as the boy called Will followed behind him but underlying that, he smelled the aroma of animal meat floating past on the wind.  It was strong enough that there were many of them close by, no doubt grazing happily, unsuspecting of the threat stalking ever closer.

The trees grew thicker the closer he crept, stark white trunks becoming a wall to block them from sight.  A twig snapped, his body crouching low to hide amongst the foggy shield, turning back around to make sure the other knew to do the same.

Will’s eyes locked onto his, curious and strikingly blue as he tilted his head in question.

“W… wait,” he forced the word past his lips, pleased that they had already begun to respond the way he wanted them to.  Talking wasn’t easy, but he was determined to convey everything he could now that he had someone to listen.  It was a good feeling, one he hoped would never go away.

The other nodded, sinking low and bracing himself against a tree with a small wince.  It was clear his body was still injured, so Nico was glad the only dangerous creature nearby was himself.  That left his mind free to worry about how to catch his prey, instinct already slowly beginning to take hold as everything else faded into a dull roar in the background.

Creeping closer he caught sight of the glint of large horns, chalky white in the early morning pink dawn.  The sleek tan and brown coat was shaggy in the cooler air, the thick fur still packed heavy upon the muscled frame to combat the cold, frozen nights of winter.

The little herd grazed quietly on the new grass poking through the littering of old leaves and fallen branches.  There were roughly a dozen by his count, mostly female, though a young looking buck was already sporting a fresh pair of budding antlers as he stayed close to his mother’s side.

The biggest threat came from the largest male of the group, the monstrosity atop his head enough to take Nico down easily enough should he grow protective and aggressive.  It wasn’t common, deer were always a little skittish in nature, but there was a time or two he became the hunted over the hunter on his treks through the wood.  Something about his scent really didn’t mix well with the creatures.

 Picking up a decently sized and sharp rock, he slunk even closer, careful not to step too hard on anything that would give away his position.  Another thing he noticed about the animals, they didn’t seem to acknowledge much outside their own little bubble.  Whether that be from generations of living outside human obstruction, or out of pure laziness on their part, he wasn’t sure.  It helped in his hunts, so he didn’t think about it all that hard.

Rising to full height, he stepped out from behind the tree, aiming a deathly blow at the back of the closest childless female’s head.  She gave a horribly sad cry of pain, body crumpling as the sound of the others fleeing echoed around them in a chorus of hooves thrumming hard on splintering wood.

The shrieks and wails of terror faded into the distance, the only remaining sound coming from the poor creature as it struggled and failed to escape.  Quick as lightning he was upon it, using strong force to smoothly snap its neck, putting it out of its misery.  The act made him feel bad, but the alternative was worse, so he made do.

A noise to his left made him look up, straight into the glittering cold black eyes of the large male.  It pawed at the ground angrily, lowering its head in a threatening manner, challenging Nico to a fight.  Without much warning, it charged, leaving little time to do more than leap out of the way.

Before he knew what was happening, he was thrown across the open space, smacking into a tree with a loud thud.  Vision darkened for a moment, the world swimming strangely as he scrambled back up onto wobbly legs.  Blinking back the sensation, he scanned the area for the attacker, swaying slightly as he caught sight of it to his right.

It rounded a group of trees, aiming once more for his body with deadly looking precision.  Just as it grew close enough to strike, muscled legs pounding the ground in a roar of haunting beats, the other boy jumped into the clearing with a shrill cry, waving two large sticks about in an attempt to scare the creature away.

In an instant, the buck changed course, running off back into the woods, leaving the two of them standing there in the buzzing silence that followed.  When it was assured the animal was gone for good, Will dropped the makeshift weapons, rushing forward to catch him as he stumbled back in his confused state.

“Woah, are you alright?  That sounded like a nasty tumble there.”  The vibrations from Will’s chest felt strange to Nico as the other spoke, and he found himself reluctant to pull away and give a short nod in response.  Blue eyes scanned him critically, brow furrowed in thought.  “I think it’s best to let me take a look, just to be safe.  Do you know where it hit you?”

Nico shrugged, or tried to, only his right arm didn’t really respond.  That was odd, so he glanced over at it, realizing at the same moment that was probably the answer.  It was hard to say, unable to feel pain as more than a slight prickle of sensation wherever he was injured.  It’s not like he could do much about injuries, anyway, seeing as how they’d never repair themselves.  As it stood, he was lucky to still have all his limbs intact.

The action didn’t go unnoticed, the taller boy shifting his focus down to assess the arm in question.  Drawing in a sudden harsh breath, he peeled back the length of the sleeve, ghosting a touch over an angry looking wound.

“This… were you shot or something,” he asked, looking genuinely concerned considering the fact it appeared to be just a graze along his bicep.  All things considered, it really could have been a lot worse, especially after slamming hard into the trunk of a tree.

Thinking back, he remembered a strange feeling after the gun had gone off, but he hadn’t thought much of it at the time.  “F-friend,” Nico confirmed, nodding his head for emphasis.

Will’s expression turned grim, lips tugging downward as he continued further inspection of the wound.  The small amount of blood that had leaked out was blackened and hard, the tissue beneath only slightly exposed.  “I’m sorry… does it… hurt?  Can you feel pain?”  Blue eyes looked up with a weird glimmer to them, and Nico couldn’t quite tell if it was hope or fear.  Perhaps a little of both.

Shaking his head, he pursed his lips.  “Can’t.  Not… the same.”

That seemed to be what he wanted to hear, smiling warmly in response.  “Well that’s good, but I’d like to wrap it, all the same.  I don’t know how your system works, but you might still suffer from infections if you aren’t careful.  I have some first aid things in my bag, I’ll take care of it after we figure out what do to about that.”  He gestured back toward the corpse lying a few feet away.

Nico grunted in amusement, which was the best attempt he could make at a laugh thus far.  Shuffling over to the creature, he hoisted it up with his one good arm, dragging the rear end through the foliage as he made his way toward the shack.

“Oh, right, why wouldn’t you be absurdly strong,” Will mumbled to himself, following closely behind.

It was then that Nico wondered if that were true, or if his lack of feeling made it easier to do things he wouldn't have been able to before.  It was something to think about, perhaps when he had a little time to reflect. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It talks!  
> And thinks a lot more human in this chapter, because I cannot continue to write in half-formed thoughts and sentences to convey a point.  
> That's okay, socially awkward zombie Nico is going to be the best!  
> Might be a few chapters of switched POV halfway or partway through, just until this boy can get his point across a little more fluidly.  
> Gosh I am tired, and I apologize for the wait on this (and any of my fics if you read more.)  
> I have 99% of everything partially written out and kept running into those fun little writer's block moments where you know what is coming next, but the words all suck when you write them up, so you avoid continuing lest it ends up shite.
> 
> Comments make things better. ;)


	5. Getting to know you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7 months? I've done worse.

The two sat on the floor in the cozy little shack, cross-legged and more than a bit hesitant.  Nico sat opposite him, black shirt discarded after their little hunting expedition left it bloody and covered in flecks of white bark.  He’d insisted on rinsing it in the creek and leaving it on a tree branch to dry, and boy was that the right move if the streaks of gunk that floated along downstream were any indication of the last time it had been washed.  Which also meant the other was probably going to remain without it for quite some time.

Not that the zombie cared much if his stoic face was any indication.  Trailing eyes down the straight line of toned muscle, Will wondered briefly if Nico was embarrassed to be exposed like that.  Did zombies even feel emotions like living humans?  He figured it might be rude to ask.  Instead, he urged himself to actually focus on the task at hand.

_Seriously, Will, checking out a zombie’s abs?  Just because he was a cute living boy doesn’t mean it’s appropriate to ogle the dead._

Reaching into his side bag he pulled out a bottle of cold creek water, unsuitable for human consumption without some serious filtration, and poured it onto a clean piece of cloth.  With shaking hands, he dabbed along the grimy black surface of the guy’s upper bicep, patting gently despite the reassurance that zombies were incapable of feeling much pain.  From the blank look on the other’s face, it was probably true, but he wasn’t one to take chances when it came to another’s comfort.

“So, it doesn’t really look much like you bleed.  Or, perhaps it’s just tissue wounds that are lacking in blood?  I’ve never had the privilege of being so up close and personal with your kind, like I’ve said.  I’m not really an expert on zombie anatomy.”

Cold, sunken black eyes flicked his way for a moment, studying the curve of his mouth before turning to look at the hand cleaning at the graze.  “H… Heart.  Pumps blood.”

Will chuckled at that.  “Kind of like an actual dead person, then.  The blood coagulates so it doesn’t really come out anymore after a certain amount of time postmortem.  Fascinating.  I wondered since you’re mobile, but it makes sense if your heart isn’t pumping that your blood wouldn’t really flow throughout your veins.”

It was hard to know if the peculiar huffing sound was an attempt at a laugh, or if Nico was just making odd wheezing noises.  Either could be true.  It didn’t help that his face was still mostly expressionless, save for the delicate quirk on one side of his mouth.  “You’re... strange,” he monotoned, though Will swore there might have been a tiny dash of humor to his voice.

Setting aside the blackened cloth, he pulled a roll of gauze from his bag next.  “Yeah, I hear that a lot.  I’m aspiring to be a medic, so things like this are interesting to me.  But I get that it’s not the norm.”  He laughed then.  “My friend Lou gets really squeamish about this stuff, so recanting my practices to her usually ends in a lot of green-faced glares and the occasional threat.  She’s the one who… ah, who did this, I suppose,” he finished with a wince, feeling suddenly foolish for bringing the girl up.

Nico just lifted his left shoulder up jerkily in a half-hearted shrug before letting it fall back down into place.  “S-okay.”

The feeling of the boy’s cold, hard flesh was still slightly unnerving, so when Will’s fingers brushed softly against it, he had to physically repress the urge to shiver.  It was also probably quite rude to his patient to outwardly show any discomfort, though the majority of that now only remained due to the irreversible idea that being so cold was supposed to be a red flag.  For the most part, he was intrigued by the person who sat before him.  When, if ever, would another chance like this arise?

Rounding the gauze tightly over the opened gash, he layered it deftly until the knitted looking fabric became opaque in appearance.  Satisfied that no bacteria could permeate the cloth, he pulled out his knife and sliced through it with ease, tucking the corner beneath one of the layers to assure it would refrain from becoming unwound.

With a smile tugging at his lips, he rose to his feet.  “There, all better.  How does it feel?”

Nico offered up another flat look in response.  “Dun…no,” he deadpanned, pun entirely not intended.  “’M dead?”

Running a hand through his hair, Will winced again.  “Ah, sorry.  I keep forgetting.  Not that I could forget, I mean, you don’t exactly _look_ like a healthy living person.  No offense.”  Nico shrugged, and he took it to mean ‘none taken’.  “But talking to you, watching you exist outside the realm of reality.  It’s just… hard to wrap my mind around, I guess.”

At that, the zombie rose to his own feet, motions odd and slightly stiff as if he were submerged in a vat of honey or else fighting against gravity itself.  It was in stark contrast to the fluidity and ease that he knew, and for a second, he felt a pang of sympathy for the person the boy used to be.  It must be hard, being stuck between the realms of the living and the deceased.

“Th… thank you.”

Will’s eyes shot up suddenly to stare into sunken black orbs, shining softly with a tinge of hesitant embarrassment.  The thought once again crossed his mind whether or not emotions were the same across the barrier of the disease, but the timing still wasn’t right to ask, so he didn’t broach the topic.  Nico broke eye contact first, gaze flicking to his booted feet.

“You’re welcome, Nico.  Now, what do you say to a meal,” he asked, already heading for the wooden door.

* * *

 

The meat from a singular deer was enough to feed a small company of twenty or so with an entire portion’s size of food.  That being said, Will discovered rather quickly that Nico’s diet consisted of the nastiest, normally unused portions of the creature; the parts they usually reserved for their hunting dogs, like the organs.  Every single last one of them.  Perhaps it had something to do with the high levels of blood and nutrients found there, but he snubbed any of the muscle, leaving Will with far too much for just himself.

He did what any normal human with a survivalist’s training would do in that situation, preserved some of the remainders of the carcass as best as he could by making it into jerky.  The only downside to this method, one without an oven or dehydrator, was that it took all day to make it. 

Which meant the two of them were stuck outside near a small, smoky fire, watching their meat so the scavengers didn’t make off with it instead.  It wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen, but he’d rather not have to go on any more hunting trips with the zombie if at all possible.  And who knows when he’d make it back home, in the meantime.  Running out of edible substances wasn’t an option.

Luckily for him, he’d brought a book along in his bag to skim through while the other obsessively walked the perimeter like some sort of guard zombie.  It was great to know he was safe, for the most part, but not at all entertaining after the first half hour of perching on a rock and following Nico’s movements around silently. 

Whoever thought a human hanging out with a zombie was going to be an adventure clearly never had the joy of meeting the most obsessive-compulsive worry wort on the planet.  Will had to turn down the offer to let Nico take over at least a dozen times before the guy decided his vulturelike circling was the only feasible option left.  At least by that point, he'd put his shirt back on, wet and clingy though it might have been.

_Seriously, Will, it's not polite to stare.  Probably not legal, either._

Heaving a sigh, he slid down the length of cool stone, flipping open the well-worn paperback and losing himself in its content.  About an hour in, a long shadow fell across the page, pulling his focus from elves and hobbits and wizards, up into a curious grey face.

Nico stared hard at the book in his hands, lips formed into a tight line.

Tilting his head to the side, he cracked a small smile.  “Do you like to read,” he asked, scooting over a bit and patting the spot next to himself on the ground.

Black eyes flicked up to his blue ones, taking on a suddenly sorrowful sheen.  “Forgot… how.”

“I could read it aloud if you’d like.  I don’t mind.”

Nico seemed to mull it over for a bit before shaking his head.  “Watching,” he mumbled, pointing to the trees all around them.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t listen,” Will replied with a chuckle, rising to his feet and wincing at the sudden cramps in his legs and bottom.  Perhaps hard compacted earth wasn’t the best choice for a comfortable sitting spot.  “Here, I’ll follow you around and read it to you.  How does that sound?”

“No.”

Cocking a brow, he smiled once more at the protective fierceness hardening the boy’s face.  Or what he assumed was protective fierceness, it could have just been embarrassed stubbornness.  “I’m pretty certain nothing bad will happen if I’m right by your side, but suit yourself, I’ll just go back to reading quietly.”

He made to sit back down, flipping the book to the next page when a sigh-like noise gave him pause.  Glancing up, he watched the zombie shuffle his feet, clearly torn.

“Fine.  You… stay.  I… listen,” Nico acquiesced after a beat of silence.

“Great,” he chirped.  Leafing back to the first chapter, he cleared his throat.  “’When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.’”

* * *

 

By the time night fell, his throat was dry and parched from storytelling and smoke inhalation.  After they put out the fire and brought the jerky inside, Nico did most of the work cleaning up the discarded pieces of deer by trekking them somewhere deep into the forest, which left Will little to do but explore the tiny cottage from top to bottom.  Luckily for him, someone had installed solar-powered lighting, or what he’d be doing was sitting around alone and in the dark.

Most of the items were junk; torn up books with several missing pages, random electronic equipment that was little more than a paperweight without proper electricity, and strange knickknacks more likely to be found in an old woman’s home than the current residence of a zombie.  Here and there he found useful items, hunting knives with decently sharpened blades, pots and pans and plates covered with a film of dust still sitting inside the cupboards, and a few first aid items he happily added to his diminishing supply.

Nico came back in the midst of his search, dark eyes watching him quietly as he continued his exploration.  It felt strange, of course, openly going through another ‘person’s’ things, so he gave up shortly thereafter and plopped himself next to the boy on the couch.

“Nice place you’ve got here,” he said with a smile, strumming absentminded fingers along his knee.  “Did you collect all of this stuff, or was it here when you came?”

Nico flicked his gaze around the little room, quite the pensive look on his face.  “Some.”

“I see.  Do you enjoy collecting things?”

The zombie gave a slight nod.

“What kinds of things do you like,” Will asked curiously, wondering suddenly which of the strange items had been brought into the space and why the boy had done it.  Was it the same as crows and other scavengers, grabbing up things that sparkled or intrigued them in some manner?  Or was there something deeper in the actions, something that correlated to a time when he was still living?

Rising to his feet, Nico ambled across the room, stopping before an interesting little device sitting beneath the curtain-less window.  It was plastic, from the look of it, with a strangely large disk on top and a little arm that lowered and raised manually.

Will watched the boy with growing curiosity as he removed the one large disk, also plastic, and slipped a new one from a film of paper.  Lowering this one onto the machine, he dropped the arm and flicked a switch.

“Music,” Nico murmured, seconds before an audible sound emitted from the box.  As the disk spun around, a song began to float from a tiny speaker, filling the room with a sorrowful guitar melody.

It didn’t take long for him to recognize the tune, something his mother used to sing to him and his sister before bed when they were both still small.  A smile curled his lips, nostalgia taking him back to a time when things were simpler, and the world was still whole.

_The other night dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms.  When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken.  So, I bowed my head and I cried._

Will joined in at the chorus, singing the melody in a quiet voice.  “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.  You make me happy when skies are grey.”

Nico watched him curiously from his place by the window, arms hanging limply at his sides as the song progressed all the way through to the end.  When it was finished, he flicked off the switch and the room returned to its previous quiet state.

“Johnny Cash,” he said with a nod of appreciation.  “My mother loves him.”

“There’s… more,” Nico replied, indicating the little crate filled with similar looking disks sitting just below the device.  “Like… music.”

“I do, too.”

A small movement quirked one side of the boy’s mouth, almost like a smile.  “Listen… to… more?”

Will hopped up and crossed the room, examining the music box with curiosity.  “What is this thing?  Normally people play music from stereos or mp3 players.”

Nico made a sound that was kind of choked, and he finally decided it was the best the other could do to replicate a laugh.  “Record player.”

“Oh, wow.  So, this is what a record player looks like.  We don’t have them in the town I come from.  How did you know how to use it?”

A strange look crossed over the boy’s face, brow furrowing slightly before he gave a tiny shake of his head.  “Just… do.”

“Like a memory,” Will asked, peering into flat black eyes.

Nico gave a nod.  “Kind of.”

“Can you teach me?”

“Pick something,” Nico replied, gesturing once more to the box.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor with the record player between them, Nico half-spoke half-pantomimed his way through a rough explanation of what to do.  It was simple, once he learned what each button and object was for, and the two sat together in the yellow-orange glow of the lamplight, legs drawn up to their chests, listening in companionable silence to song after song.

When his eyelids started to droop precariously, body sliding down to land against the other’s chilly shoulder, they called it a night.  The lone futon in the room was stiff as he laid upon it, the thin blanket slightly dirty and riddled with tiny holes.  It kept him warm enough, and the pillow was better than a rock-hard floor, so he counted his blessings.

Nico took the couch, curling up into a small ball on his side.  Despite various attempts to get the boy to take some form of cover, claiming it was unnecessary given the inability to feel temperature, he remained quietly in place in the dark room until Will’s vision blurred and he could fight his drowsiness no longer.

As he slipped into unconsciousness, his mind wandered aimlessly, wondering over his friend’s safety and whether or not his family knew of his disappearance.  A pang clenched his heart, and he resolved himself to find his way back to them as soon as humanly possible.

* * *

 

When the sound of Will’s breathing slowed significantly, he unfurled himself from the cramped position on the couch and glanced at the boy’s sleeping face.  The room was dark, the pale moonlight cascading down through the dirt-covered windows doing little to illuminate the space, but despite the low lighting, his eyes adjusted well to the inky blackness.  Whether from his disease or innate ability, he couldn’t guess, but it was enough to see the curve of a strong nose and the fan of thick lashes fluttering occasionally as the other peacefully dreamed.

 _I don’t want him to leave me_ , he thought suddenly, surprised by how desperate the words sounded inside his own head.

While it was true he was quite lonely at times, having only himself and his music to fill up the harrowing silences, having just anyone around didn’t seem much like it would make a difference.  Something deep down told him he’d always preferred to be alone rather than surrounded by others, which is part of the reason he didn’t often seek out the company of those of his kind.  That, and they weren’t all that interesting.

But Will was different.  He was kind and bright, with a smile that sent something warm into his chest.  Being around him made Nico feel oddly better, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders that he’d never before realized was there.  The thought of losing that, of Will leaving him to go back to his own kind, sent a jolt of icy panic straight down into his very core.

It was selfish, he knew as much, even as he wasn’t quite sure what selfish was.  A large part of him wanted to lock Will away from the world, keep him safe from harm while simultaneously learning and exploring everything new with the boy that the universe had to offer.  The other part, small though it may have been, knew he should count himself lucky for getting to meet the golden creature in the first place.

Listening to records with him was so much better than sitting alone and pretending the words were actually conversations.  And when Will would hum along or sing softly with the verses he knew, his melodic voice made the moments seem that much sweeter.  Even just listening to him babble on, the emotions he felt written plain as day on his tan-skinned face, was enough to make Nico hope there would never be a lull in the conversation, that the questions and buzzing curiosity would remain with him for all time.

Rising from his spot on the couch, he shuffled quietly over toward the bed, leaning back against the wall and curling his knees up toward his chest.  The sun wouldn’t rise for hours yet, and despite his numerous attempts to replicate sleep, the most he could accomplish was lying still for hours with closed eyes. 

Zombies didn’t dream, at least as far as he knew.  The best he could hope for was the occasional flicker of memory that caught him off guard anytime he broke another cycle and tried something new.  With Will around, the likelihood of new memories appearing was the best hope he had at some semblance of normalcy.  If Will was with him, it really didn’t matter.  What were memories, truly, but past experiences revisited?

***

Pink sunlight trickled in through the windows, igniting the room in a blaze of fiery hues.  Will had slept soundly the whole of the night, barely moving from the same adorably curled position he’d begun in save to crinkle his nose a few times and mumble illegibly in his sleep. 

Nico hadn’t watched him the _entire_ time, at one point he did leave to stroll through the forest to occupy himself.  Normally he’d listen to music or fiddle with his objects to pass the nighttime hours appropriately, but since humans needed relative silence to properly rest, he was too worried about waking the boy to move around much.  Not that Will wasn’t fascinating to observe.  He just felt a little… creepy doing so.

Eyelashes fluttered over cheekbones, a gentle hum floating up from the boy’s throat.  As blue eyes opened slowly, taking in their surroundings with a confused expression, Nico remained pressed back against the wall, obscured slightly by the remaining shadows, resting his chin on his knee.

Will rubbed a hand over his face as a yawn spilled past his lips, limbs stretching high above his head.  When he noticed Nico sitting close by, he yelped in surprise, nearly falling off the mattress as he jerked away.  “Gods, Nico.  You scared me.  Weren’t you laying down on the couch?”

“Don’t sleep,” he replied with a gentle smirk, though it probably didn’t look like much more than a slight spasm of his mouth.

Clutching at his chest, the boy rose to his feet, using his free hand to rake through his messy locks.  “Right.  I guess that makes sense, seeing as how I’m sure your brain doesn’t work the same way without blood flow.  Come to think of it, do you even breathe?”

“To talk,” Nico said with a nod.  “Otherwise, not… necessary.”

“I’d say I’m envious but…” Will trailed off, eyes scanning the room for a moment before they flicked back over, looking a little hesitant.  “I was thinking, Nico.  Grateful as I am that you saved me back there, I really should be getting back home now.”

Jumping up, he shook his head with vigor, alarming the other so horribly he took a large step back.  “Not safe,” he pleaded, desperate to make the boy stay with him.  “Zombies.  Dangerous.”

“I’m well trained and I’ve made it this far…”

“Here is safe.  Stay.”

Will winced, clearly troubled by something.  “Nowhere is, not really.  I’m needed back home, though.  My friends probably think I’m dead, no doubt my family does, too.  If I can, I have to at least try.”

“Safe with me,” Nico mumbled, dropping his gaze sadly down to his feet.  After everything, being alone now sounded like the worst fate imaginable.

“You could come with me,” Will said gently, drawing his eyes back up reluctantly.  “If you’re there, I’m sure I’ll be fine.  I don’t even really know where we are currently, so I could use a guide.”

“Take you,” he asked, brow furrowing in mild confusion. It had never crossed his mind before, leaving the place that helped start his entire transformation from mindless to seemingly functional. Who was he, if not the objects he possessed and the few places he had come to be familiar with? What's more, what would become of him should he never come back?

Will smiled softly, running a hand across the back of his neck.  “I’d really appreciate it.  And who knows, maybe there will be some cool things along the way.  You can’t come into the village, I’m sure they’d kill you on sight, but maybe I could find a way to visit again?  If you’d like.”

Warmth pooled in his heart, even as he knew that was literally impossible.  With a short nod, he bound himself to his fate, knowing deep down there were no other options for him but to follow the golden boy wherever he wanted to go.  “Okay. I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've missed this fic. I know my lack of updates doesn't show it, but I really did.  
> Was this chapter kind of a filler? Perhaps, but they do need to get to know one another better before I can kick them out into zombie-infested wastelands and laugh at their misery.  
> I mean... there is no misery! Heh.
> 
> It should go without saying what the book and song really were, but just in case, The Fellowship Of The Ring and You Are My Sunshine.  
> Obviously, I own neither.
> 
> Hopefully people are still interested in this!  
> I'll try to be better about updates, but if you read anything else I write, you know I'm horrible with that pretty much across the board.  
> I don't mean to be, I'm just old and tired and easily distracted? Very easily distracted. And would rather think up new things to leave woefully unfinished than finish that which needs it. v.v
> 
> Hit me up on Tumblr if you'd like - Cherrypie62666


	6. Braving the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another double POV.

Will

A dusting of fog still clung to the ground as the sun crested the afternoon sky, booted feet trekking through the foliage with a soft crunch.  White-trunked birch speckled the landscape as far around as the eye could see, blocking visibility while simultaneously protecting the two of them from unwanted detection.

They had only just set out, but already a trickle of sweat began to bead his brow.  The uneven terrain was difficult to maneuver through, especially in his weakened state, but Nico had not so subtly demanded that they cut through the forest for safety reasons.  Far be it from him to argue, it wasn’t as if he knew where to go, to begin with.  Glancing sidelong at his grey-skinned companion, he once again felt a rush of emotion flood his chest.

It had taken the better part of the day to pack up a few provisions and restock his supplies, and even longer still for the zombie to finally bid farewell to the little shack, reluctant though his face might have been.  Nico hadn’t bothered to pack much for himself, saying it was never truly his to begin with, anyway.  The look in those endlessly black eyes as they left that place struck something deep inside of him, a pang of understanding and empathy for the boy he wouldn’t soon forget.

Leaving your home behind wasn’t easy, he knew as much and was more than thankful for the other’s sacrifice.  While he had to leave behind his family for only a short while, Nico was leaving behind his entire lifestyle, perhaps indefinitely, just to help a stranger he hardly knew.  What’s more, he was doing it with nothing gained for himself, nothing but a bit of gratitude once everything was said and done, a pat on the back to commemorate the deed and the potential for it to all be in vain.

It boggled his mind to see that a creature he’d been taught to fear, with no hint of humanity beyond their insatiable and deadly hunger, showed more human compassion and selflessness than even most living people he knew.  It was even truer still that such actions led to even greater sacrifice in their current society, with the bulk of them ending in the person’s untimely demise. 

Not many were willing to bet on such high stakes.  That made it all the more surprising to him, and somehow, heartbreakingly sad.

Nico caught on to his subtle change in demeanor, turning to him with something akin to a quizzical look.  A single black eyebrow rose slightly on his pallid face, dark eyes flashing briefly with trepidation.  “Everything… alright?”

“Do you remember how you died,” he blurted, unable to keep his curiosity at bay.  Stopping dead in his tracks, he slapped a hand over his mouth in embarrassment, wishing the words were just as easily captured.

The zombie stopped, too, a few steps away, turning to him with a stoic expression.  Not that he wasn’t normally stoic, but somehow, Will felt like this time was just a hint more than usual.  “No,” came the reply, equally void of emotion.  “Does it… matter?”

Unable to handle the strange sense of regret bubbling in his gut, he flicked his eyes down to his feet.  “Sorry, that wasn’t very sympathetic of me.  I was just thinking aloud.”

“S’fine.”

Will winced at the other’s monotoned voice, so much smaller than it should have been.  “You probably don’t want to remember it, anyway.  I can’t imagine it’s a good memory, seeing as how it ended.  Perhaps it’s better that you don’t.”

“Yeah.”

Footsteps drew his gaze back up after a beat of heavy silence, the other resuming their long walk back toward the deserted buildings where they’d first met. 

It was true that they were a little pressed for time, there was no way to even make it the full distance without stopping somewhere for the night.  Already, Nico had told him the safest passage was to follow the forest around and cut through the suburban parts of the city, consequentially adding another large chunk of time to their trip.  Who knows what delaying further might mean for them.

Still, something told him the subject was a little taboo, and that he should avoid further mention of things of that nature.  It should have been obvious, who would want to think about the end of their entire previous life?  No matter the circumstances, the eventual outcome was still the upending of everything familiar until that point.  He could only imagine what that would be like, what it would mean for him if he could remember everyone he’d left behind, unable to return to them again.

A shiver ran down his spine and he pushed forward, catching up easily to the zombie’s slower pace.  It was still such a shock to him, watching this walking impossibility defy six years of deeply rooted knowledge before his very eyes.  There wasn’t a single thing about Nico that was definable as undead, even his mannerisms appeared only slightly more stiff and awkward than was considered normal.  If it weren’t for the color of his skin and his lack of emotion, he’d be completely unrecognizable as a zombie.

Perhaps that was partially why he desperately wanted to unravel the boy’s past, delving deep down to the essence of whatever made him so special.  Somewhere inside of him, he hoped beyond hope he’d get the chance one day.  Even if it meant waiting patiently to get there.

The two continued through the forest in companionable silence, and it was hard for him to guess if it was naturally occurring or the product of their caution.  The only sounds permeating the area were the pitter-patter of their feet, the call of birds flittering through the leaves, and the soft sound of wildlife roaming the forest.  It was peaceful, and for a moment, he could almost pretend that nothing was amiss, that this stroll through the woods was just another happy memory in the hushed presence of a new friend. 

What he wouldn’t give for that to be the case.

Time passed with nothing but the change of scenery to mark the occasion.  The sun rose high above them, casting shadows through the canopy of trees.  After what felt like hours of walking, the bottoms of his feet battered and bruised from stepping carefully along the uneven surface of ground, he finally couldn’t take it anymore.  Leaning back against the trunk of a large tree, he wiped the sweat from his face with the hem of his shirt.

“Nico, hold up,” he wheezed out, trying to catch his breath.  “I need a minute to rest.”

The other boy stopped walking, turning to him with a strange look.  “Why?”

“Because I’m exhausted?  I’ve never been the overly active type, I spend most of my time reading up on old medical practices and the study of various herbs to make different medicines.”

Nico blinked slowly a few times, like he didn’t quite understand.

“Don’t you ever need to rest?”

“No.”

Sliding down to the ground, he cracked a wry smile.  “Because you’re used to it, or because zombies are different than the living?”

Nico shrugged, or tried to, it appeared the arm he’d bandaged the day before was still unusable.  “Never really… thought about it… much.”  Glancing out warily toward the edge of the tree-line, his expression became strained.  “We should… hurry.  Not… safe.”

“How much further until we get there,” he asked, pulling out his canteen and taking a deep swig.  The water inside was barely cooler than the humid air around him, but it helped slightly to ease the drought in his throat.

Scrunching up his brow, the zombie mulled the question over. 

Perhaps things like distance and time were different between the fog of disease, he’d never stopped to question whether or not the journey was even possible for someone like him.  Finally, after a beat of calm silence, he shook his head, and Will had to wonder if it was difficult to do even the most basic of things he’d come to take for granted. 

“Not much further.”

“Can you put that in hours or minutes?  It feels like we’ve already been walking for at least half the daylight we had left.”  Glancing up at the positioning of the sun, his mouth pulled into a grimace.  “If it gets any later, we’ll be stuck in the forest after dark.”

“That’s why… we hurry,” he deadpanned.

Heaving a sigh, Will scrambled back up onto tired legs.  “Alright, alright.  I’ll rest later,” he mumbled, slipping his canteen into his bag and begrudgingly continuing on down the path.

Fire kissed the cloud-speckled sky, reds and oranges dancing through the ever-growing shades of dazzling purple and deepest navy.  As the air grew cooler, the sound of crickets chirping their choir out amidst the tall grasses, Will glanced out into the calm twilight, wondering when it was they’d deviate from their forested path.

Wind blew softly through the trees, bringing with it the scent of something tantalizingly sweet.  His feet moved themselves before he could stop them, breaking through the line of wooded-obstruction with a soft gasp.  There, in the middle of an endless sea of white bark, a large meadow stretched out underneath the sun’s dying rays, a vast expanse of hunter green and impossible yellow.

“Daisies,” Nico said, coming up to stand beside him.

Will turned to the boy with a gentle smile.  “You remember them?”

“I do,” he nodded stiffly, dark eyes cast out into the distance.  “Someone I knew… liked them.”

“An old girlfriend, perhaps,” Will asked, and though he said it lightly, a strange heaviness gripped his insides.

The other turned to him with a wry expression, though perhaps it was simply his own projected assumptions and nothing more.  “Doubtful,” Nico replied in what could only be described as a dry tone.

He laughed, unsure why that one word shot through him a sense of relief like liquid fire coursing through his bloodstream.  Gazing up into the rainbow sky, he closed his eyes, tilting his chin up to catch the feeling of the sun’s warmth on his skin. 

Nico moved past him, eyes peeking open curiously as he watched the boy step out cautiously into the field.  Bending down, he plucked a single flower from the bunch with a delicate grip, admiring its soft beauty with a curious expression.  Then he turned, coming to stand just before him, stopping no more than an arm’s length away.  With a quirk of his mouth, he held it out, offering it to Will without a word of explanation.

“For me,” he asked hesitantly, allowing the flower to be dropped into his already waiting palm.

“It reminds me… of you,” Nico said calmly, stygian eyes dragging themselves all over his face.

Will hummed quietly, twirling the stem between his fingers with a grin.  “Because we’re both yellow?”

“Something like that.”

A low growl of sound caught their attention, both boys turning toward the disturbance with curious looks.  It took a moment for him to realize what it was he saw racing through the tall grasses toward them, but when he did, fear raked nails straight down his back.

Hunched over in an odd way, the sandstone colored mass looked like an elephant, only much more terrifying and bloodthirsty.  His short dark hair was caked with brown mud, the white shirt on his back almost the same sickly grey color as his skin.  The noise that ripped from his throat was just as feral as the others, but something about his massive size made it all the more formidable.

Before he had a chance to process the full extent of the danger, Nico was yanking him back by the wrist into the cover of trees, the force from the movement nearly enough to pop his shoulder out of place.  Pain shot through his arm down to the tips of his fingers, the icy cold sensation of a rock-hard grip digging into his flesh doing little to ease the ache.

His limbs felt leaden, his lungs filled with hot coals.  The soles of his feet in his boots slapped forcefully against the rubber with each heavy step they took into the safety of the forest, dodging around boulders and fallen logs as they went.  Even as his muscles screamed out in pure agony, tired from the long day’s trek, he urged them on, matching the inhuman speed of the other boy to the best of his capabilities.

In the distance, the sound of rage grew ever closer, spurred on by the chase like a crazed and rabid animal excited by the hunt.  He could almost feel the frigid breath on the back of his neck, clawed hands reaching for him to rip him away and claim victory over procuring their prize. 

It did little by way of inspiring him to go faster, and if anything, had his legs dragging more with each passing second.  Soon there was little more to do than stop, clutching at his chest as every last ragged intake of oxygen scraped painfully down his esophagus.

Nico’s eyes were wild as they skipped back and forth over his own, questioning him silently with a look of utter panic.

Shaking his head, he swallowed down the lump perched in his throat.  “I… can’t… do it,” he wheezed out between pants.  A fit of coughing doubled him over at the waist, covering his mouth with his back of his hand.

The grip on his other wrist loosened slightly before disappearing altogether, replaced with a cool sensation rubbing his upper back soothingly.  “Okay.”

When the pain had subsided some, he stood up straighter, offering the other boy a wry smile.  “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

The massive form broke through the obscurity of trees, dark eyes flashing an inhuman red.  Never before had he seen such a terrifying spectacle, and if he lived through the remainder of the night, he hoped to never again.

As the creature charged him like a rabid bull, flecks of spittle flying from its open mouth, Nico calmly hooked his foot under a nearby sizable fallen branch, kicking it up into his patiently waiting hand.  With a swing so hard Will felt the powerful force of the wind ruffle his hair from a few feet away, he hit the oncoming zombie with a sickening crunch, exploding the wood into hundreds of smaller splinters.

There was no cry of pain, no blood to mar the once-twisted face.  With his eyes still opened and ever watching, he collapsed bodily into the dirt, not a single movement to betray whether or not those images had been his last.

Will gazed on in horrified amazement, rooted to the spot as a tremor ricocheted through his limbs.

Without so much as a word of console, Nico reclaimed the strong grip on his wrist, leading him away from that terrible sight before it burned itself into the backs of his eyelids.

* * *

 

Nico

The house he’d taken Will to was dark inside, shadows clinging to the walls and corners in nefarious and troubling shapes.  It didn’t bother him much, he was used to the cover of night, but the golden boy had been shocked so horribly by that scene that he was desperate to quell some of the tension still traceable in the lines of his face.

When he was certain the place was free from danger, he led him over to the couch, setting him down carefully and taking a step back.  Will’s expression was much the same as earlier, trapped somewhere between shock and apathy, with gently parted lips and hollow blue eyes.

It hurt him deep down, though he wasn’t sure about the how or why.  His actions were reasonable.  The result no different than what he’d done previously to save the boy’s life.  So why was it now that he felt more like a monster than ever before?

Turning away, he resolved himself to fixing whatever he could.

The house was a mess, with garbage laying about the floor and yellowed stains painting the cream-colored walls.  Pictures of the family who once occupied the residence still sat upon the mantle above the hearth, their faces smiling happily behind a thick caking of dust.  Soft blue glow trickled in through the cracked windows, but it wasn’t enough to see by for very long.

The first thing he did was gather up the unusable pieces of broken furniture, stacking them carefully in the fireplace before setting them ablaze and fanning the budding flame.  The next thing he did was move as far away as possible from the eerily silent boy, cursing himself mentally for potentially scarring the poor guy for life.

Licking his lips timidly, Will broke out of his trance the second Nico had taken a seat on the far end of the room.  Blue eyes turned and regarded him oddly, tight and heavy with something unidentifiable.  Patting the spot next to himself, he smiled a little weakly.  “You don’t have to go all the way over there, I’m not afraid of you.”

“Oh.”

Glancing back into the now steadily crackling fire, the boy swallowed visibly.  “I’ve just… I mean I’ve seen, touched even, tons of the recently dead for learning purposes.  I’ve had to study organs and siphon blood out of the body.  But I’ve never watched the exact moment something died.  It’s like there’s this disconnect in my brain, the before and after images just don’t correlate properly, and I’m left with this terrible taste on the back of my tongue.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said with a shake of his head, pulling his legs up to his chest and wrapping tanned arms around them.  Laying his cheek on his knee, he looked over at Nico solemnly.

Despite his unease, Nico rose to his feet, settling himself as far into the crook of the small couch as possible.  Blue still watched him searchingly, though, for what, he couldn’t begin to guess.

After a beat of silence, filled only by the shifting and settling of burnt wood in the hearth, the boy hummed a quiet sigh.  “Was it difficult?”

“What,” he asked, sliding his gaze over reluctantly.

Will stared up at him through a veil of thick lashes, impossibly long and kissed with a color like mahogany-stained wood.  Plush lips turned down at the corners as he pressed them firmly together, a gentle crease forming between his brow.  “Hurting someone like you.  To protect someone like me.”

Nico laughed, or tried his very best to, it came out slightly guttural and a little like a wheeze.  “I didn’t really… have much choice.”

“Did you intend to kill him?”

_Yes.  And I would again if it meant keeping you safe._

“Not… exactly,” he replied instead, turning away from that pitying gaze.  Lifting his right hand up to his face, he traced dark eyes over the abrasions in his skin before curling his fingers into a tight fist.  It didn’t hurt.  Not the cuts on his palm or the nails pressing into them.  It never hurt like it should.  “It wouldn’t have… stopped him unless I did.”

“Why?”

“No pain.”

Golden fingers came to rest gently atop his own, and aside from the sensation that something was there, he couldn’t feel them at all.  Not a single drop of warmth leaked through his dead flesh like he wanted it to, and he almost sobbed with regret over the thought that it never would.

Will tugged his hand over, unfurling his fist slowly and assessing the damage with a critical eye.  Pale pieces of hair obscured most of his face from view, firelight dancing around the two of them as Nico waited silently for the other’s diagnosis.  After a beat, he swiveled his body, smiling brighter than the flames could ever hope to be.

“Well, thank you.  I’m sorry that I can’t do more to keep myself safe, not without my bow or some other weapon.  I hate relying on you like that, but I’m grateful you’re willing to protect me even though we’ve only just met.  I’ll try to be a little more careful in the future.”

“Alright,” he replied, not quite sure what else there was to be said.  He couldn’t exactly scold the other for wanting to be useful, and it was pointless to explain his intentions when even he couldn’t begin to wrap his head around them.  All he knew was that nothing was more important to him than this boy’s life, and he’d fight the sun itself to keep a smile on his face.  For as long as he was wanted, he’d be there to ensure the other's safety.

Running a hand through his shining locks, Will smiled weakly once more.  “All of that walking and running have really tired me out.  I should probably get some sleep, so we can leave early tomorrow.  Will you be all right by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, then I’ll go check out the rooms upstairs.”  Rising to his feet, he stared down at him with a soft expression.  “Goodnight, Nico.”

“Goodnight.”

Nico watched him walk away, dark eyes tracing the shape of his back as it moved further into the darkened house.  It was no different from the other times, he was used to passing the long darkness with inanimate objects as the only thing to keep him company.  Somehow, this time felt… lonely.

Will made it partway up the stairs before he stopped his ascent, glancing over with an awkward smile.  “You could… join me.  If you wanted to?  It is kind of creepy in the pitch black, I’d feel better if I wasn’t all alone up there.”

“Okay.”

Nodding, the golden boy turned back.  “Okay.  I’ll see you up there, then.”

 ***

_The walls were brown and filthy, cracked here and there from the passage of time.  Nico crouched down in the shadows, shoulder pressed against the support beam in the center of the room, ears perked for signs of imminent danger._

_The younger girl clinging to his side was shivering with fear, mocha-colored fingers twisted into the fabric of his blood-soaked black tee-shirt.  Across the narrow passage, two more fellow Scouters watched the door with wide-eyed expressions, silent tears dripping clean streaks down their sooty faces._

_The small group had left the safety of the town at the behest of their government, tasked with the mission to go out and find evidence of other human settlements that might help them with their own.  Each group took a direction, eight in all, and set off in a relatively straight line, going only as far as was possible in three-days-time.  After that, they were to come back and report their findings._

_It was the eve of that third day, and all they’d found was death._

_It clung to this place thicker than anywhere he’d ever seen, hordes of undead monsters littering the broken streets.  And they’d stumbled right into it blindly, narrowly escaping their own slaughter by the skin of their teeth.  They wouldn’t last much longer, not without the weapons they’d abandoned long ago after the wave of disease crashed in on them, fighting desperately to make it even this far._

_The door shook, and with it, so too did the other three.  Hissing sounds could be heard all about the place, low and guttural and desperate to find them.  Adrenaline no doubt pumped off their skin in tantalizing waves, drawing them closer still with every second the four wasted hiding out._

_Nico knew what was needed, had formulated his plan while the others were struck down with fear.  Turning to his sister, he cupped a gentle hand to her cheek, marveling at the warm sensation beneath his fingertips.  “Hazel,” he whispered, voice hoarse and thick from overuse._

_Golden eyes wavered as they searched his expression, reading the intent there before he’d even had a chance to speak.  “No,” she protested, and it broke his heart to hear the pain in her words.  “No, Nico.  I won’t let you.”_

_“But we have to do something or we’re all going to die here.”_

_“No,” she said once more, slightly weaker than the first time._

_Catching a falling tear with his thumb, he smiled softly at the younger girl despite the sorrow blossoming in his chest.  “I promised dad I’d keep you safe.  I intend to keep that promise, no matter the cost.”_

_“But what if you-“ her voice cracked, bottom lip trembling as she drew it between her teeth.  Shaking her head adamantly, her irises turned to molten liquid.  “Please,” she begged him desperately._

_“Do you really believe I’d let a bunch of monsters keep me from you for long?  It’s just until you’re safe.  I’ll be right behind you, bringing up the rear.”_

_“But you’re injured.  You’re the most at risk here out of all of us.”_

_Quirking a brow, he tried his best for an incredulous expression.  “This little thing,” he asked, indicating the gash on his arm. Clucking his tongue, he smiled once more.  “It’s hardly a scratch.  I’ve had way worse back home, you know that.”_

_Footsteps drew closer, the heavy creak of floorboards outside causing the two others in the corner to whimper quietly and scamper back further into the shadows._

_“See,” Nico said firmly, grasping his sister by the shoulders.  Her jaw set with a ripple of muscle, but she didn’t try to protest again.  “I need you to get those two back safely.  You’re the only one I trust to do it.  Please, Hazel, there isn’t much time left.”_

_He saw it in her eyes the minute her resolve broke, face crumpling with agony as she hung her head in defeat.  “Alright,” she relented, voice hardly more than a ragged whisper.  “I’ll believe in you.”_

_Pulling her into a tight embrace, he squeezed his eyes shut, memorizing the feeling of her warmth as his own already started to slip further away.  With a lazy grin, he drew back, tucking her hair behind her ear gently.  “Thank you, baby sister.”_

_“You had better come home, Nico di Angelo.  Or I’ll come back to this very place and kick your ass.  I mean it.”_

_“I don’t doubt it,” he murmured, knowing all too well the truth in her threat.  It wouldn’t matter if she did, he wouldn’t be there anymore. Not in the sense she’d want him to be._

_Rising to his feet, he gathered up the other two members of his team, prying open the basement window and searching the street.  The alley beyond was deserted, not even a single shuffle of footsteps nearby to indicate a threat.  Turning to the three of them, he gave a firm nod._

_“Alright, here’s the plan.  You three need to get out of here as fast as you can but be sure to keep a low profile.  There’s a creek just outside of town, we passed it when we came in.  I want you to change into your reserve outfits there and burn your blood-soaked clothing.  Don’t forget to wash all traces of blood from your skin, if you have even a speck left on you, they’ll hunt you down.  I’ll stay here so I don’t keep attracting them back to you, but once you’re far enough away, I’ll follow behind.  Just focus on getting back to town alive, that’s all that matters now.”_

_“Are you sure,” Jennifer asked meekly, green eyes darting around the place.  “Hades told us-“_

_“I’m your commanding officer right now.  You’ll do as I say, that’s an order.”_

_Slamming her mouth shut, the girl nodded stiffly in response.  The boy at her side followed suit, squeezing his girlfriend’s hand for reassurance._

_Hazel wiped her eyes with the back of her arm, steeling her nerves with two curled fists.  “I’ll get them home in one piece, you don’t have to worry about that.”_

_“Good, but I expect nothing less from the girl at the top of her class.”_

_With a final hug, and a gentle push from behind, one by one the other three slipped through the window to safety.  Relief flooded his chest, staggering back as the weight of his limbs seemed to triple almost instantly._

_Already the disease was coursing through his bloodstream, weakening his heart with every last futile beat.  It was like ice, the kind so cold it began to burn your skin, only it was trapped deep in his core and spreading by the second.  Soon it would consume everything, leaving nothing but the monster in his place._

_Panic welled inside of him, but he pushed it back, refusing to give in to his fears.  Death was always a reality in their lives, and as a soldier, he was trained to accept it head on.  It would be okay.  In the end, he’d done the right thing.  That’s what he’d lived for, what he’d chosen to die for._

_His sister was safe.  His group was safe.  In time, everyone would forget their loss, remembering him as the hero who sacrificed his life to ensure the other’s survival.  As long as they were alive, some small part of him would live on, too.  At least he’d spared them all the same dim fate.  For the time being, the biggest threat had been quashed._

_All that was left was to hope they made it away before any more danger befell them._

_The room spun, his stomach rolling so hard he thought he might vomit.  There wasn’t much time left, he could already begin to feel the effects it had on his sluggish mind and lulling pulse, an insatiable hunger twisting his insides with a gnawing ache.  Beads of cold sweat prickled his brow, teeth chattering as the chill settled deep into his bones.  The battle inside of him was ending fast, in just a few minutes, everything would be over._

_In just a few minutes… he… would…_

_Sliding down against the dirt-caked wall, his vision blurred with unshed tears.  It had been a struggle to keep them at bay once he’d realized his abysmal fate some hours past, but he pushed forward regardless, determined to keep the rest of them strong.  Now that he was all alone, facing the end with nothing but a brave smile on his face, all he felt was grief._

_“I don’t want to die.  Not yet.  Not here…”_

_The door groaned as numerous bodies pushed against it, the rusted hinges no match for the insurmountable pressure worrying them away.  Clasping his hands over his ears, he pulled his knees up to his chest, trying his best to drown out the sounds of the monsters frantic for his life, begging for him to let them in._

_“No.  I don’t want to be like you.  I won’t be like you.  I won’t…”_

_It would be okay.  Everyone was safe.  It was the right thing to do.  Now he couldn’t hurt anyone he loved.  It was better this way.  He had to do it alone.  He had to go through it alone.  It would be okay.  Everything was going to be okay._

_If he repeated it enough times, maybe it would be true._

_The groans grew louder, the walls shaking from the angry pounding just beyond the door.  Soon they’d find their way in.  If the disease didn’t claim him before then, the monsters were sure to finish him off.  In the end, it was a race to see what could hold out longer, his humanity or the frail building bowing in beneath the weight of a hundred undead beasts._

_But it was too much for him to bear alone.  The hands on his ears were starting to shake, the stains on his pants growing larger as his tears fell freely from his eyes.  There was still so much he wanted to do.  Still so many things left unsaid.  They never would be.  Not like this._

_“Wait,” he called out, eyes frantically searching the open window for signs of life.  Maybe she was still nearby.  Maybe he wouldn’t have to go through it alone.  It was okay to be afraid.  Hazel wouldn’t blame him for that._

_Rolling onto his hands and knees, he scrambled forward across the bloodstained floor, tremors racking his frail body with each shaky step.  It was no use, his muscles too tired to keep him upright, his limbs too heavy to move even an inch farther.  As his body collapsed, a horrible pain blossomed in his chest, squeezing his insides into pulp._

_“Hazel.  Come back.  Please,” he cried weakly, curling up into a ball on his side.  “Don’t leave me alone.  I don’t want to die all alone.”_

_His organs were shutting down, lungs too weak to draw in more than a single ragged breath.  The disease had already claimed far too much of him, even his tear ducts had all but dried up and refused to respond.  His body was numb, warmth fading fast like a dying fire in a storm of icy snow._

_“Does it hurt to die, Bianca?  Did it hurt this much when you…”_

_As the final beat of his heart throbbed pitifully against his ribcage, the light in his eyes slowly growing darker, the last thing he saw was the wood splintering as it exploded inward, and then everything was cold and empty and black._

Nico’s eyes sprang open, terror clutching his heart in a vicious grip. 

Warm light spilled into the once dark room, the remnants of his dream still clouding his mind.  Sitting upright, he swiped away the strange sensation on his cheeks with the back of his hand, staring at the liquid he discovered there with mild confusion.

Tears.  He’d been crying.  Not only in his dream-like memory, but for real.  Except the dead didn’t cry.  And they didn’t dream.

Confused even further by this strange new development, he scrambled to his feet, desperate to ask Will what he thought it might mean.  Only the bed was empty, the bag he’d known was there hours before missing from the room.  Everything was silent as the grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoy the cliffhanger.  
> Oh, and I changed the timeline to be 2 years longer, so they're 18 instead of 16. FYI, thought I'd mention it.
> 
> So! I wrote this chapter thanks to a certain someone submitting this fic here to the 2018 Solangelo Fic Awards on Tumblr!  
> This one and Quite A Fine Line are both up there, and if you want to check it out, I'll provide the link below.  
> You don't have to vote for me, in fact, I encourage everyone to make a choice based on personal opinion. But if you did like this one, if you wanted to show some love, I'd definitely appreciate it.  
> I don't delude myself into think I'm better than any of these wonderful writers, just the fact everyone sends me lovely comments and enthusiastically keeps up with my slow butt is more than enough for me.  
> You guys all rock!
> 
> Sorry for the sadness, hope it wasn't too bad.  
> Wanna talk about it? I love comments!
> 
> Hit me up on Tumblr - Cherrypie62666
> 
>  
> 
> [Solangelo Fic Awards Voting](https://solange-lol.tumblr.com/post/170439353464/solangelo-fic-awards-2018-voting)


	7. Like the beat of my heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's that for quick posting? Five days later...

Nico

The sheets were straightened out and carefully tucked in on the small mattress, leaving little trace that anyone had slept in them at all.  He didn’t think it was quite like Will to disappear without saying anything, but then again, it’s not as if he actually knew the boy. 

When it came down to it, there was still much he wasn’t exactly sure about.

Like whether or not everything for the last few days had been real.  It was true he’d been feeling… something for a while now, a growing sense of restlessness he couldn’t deny.  Perhaps he’d only tricked himself into thinking Will was with him this whole time.  The changes in his body he’d been noticing recently could be proof of anything, including insanity.  Could a zombie be insane?

The only way he knew it wasn’t all just a product of his overactive and desperate imagination was the two sets of footprints in the dust leading up to the bed, and the one set leading back out again.  As he stood stock-still in the silent room, surrounded by the sun’s soft golden glow spilling in through the curtain-less window, Nico released a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding.

At least he wasn’t going crazy.  That didn’t make him any less alone.

Something akin to sadness swelled up in his chest cavity; like a heavy weight had been placed there, refusing to budge.  The sudden memory of his own death only furthered to increase that unease, flooding him with a panic so strong that his limbs had moved before he’d even truly registered it.

The hall was dark and quiet, the doors on either side of him still closed like they were the night before.  The chances of Will exploring one of them were slim, so he disregarded them both entirely.  Taking the stairs two at a time, he thundered into the living room with desperation, eyes scanning the contents in search of the familiar face.  It was empty, so he ran through the other areas of the house, throwing open the front door and spilling out onto the rickety wooden porch.

The street was the same as when he’d last seen it, cars parked haphazardly back to back with broken windshields, an endless sea of glass shards and scorch marks littering the cracked asphalt.  Some of them were even parked up onto the overgrown lawns or on top of slanted yellow fire hydrants, passenger doors swung open and stuffed full of old leaves and fallen bird feathers that had been blown in by the wind.

The only thing missing was Will.

With a heavy heart, he turned his back on the desolation, wondering what it was he would do now.  There was always his shack, the accumulation of all his favorite objects he’d amassed after… however long it had been.  Somehow, the thought wasn’t as tempting as it once was.  It felt… empty.  Lonely.  Without warm conversation to fill up the harrowing silences, it was little more than a place where he used to spend time.

Plopping down onto the beat-up couch, he gazed up toward the water-marked ceiling, tracing the blobs with his eyes until they twisted and melted into less depressing shapes. 

He was a fool to think things could ever be different, that nothing had to change.  In the end, everything was bound to go back to normal at some point.  What was one more day together against the vastness of empty eternity?

Zombies didn’t get the happy ending.  Their lives were already cut tragically short.

The sound of metal scraping across metal drew his attention over to the sliding glass door in the kitchen, and he nearly jumped up and ran to the boy standing there as relief flooded through him.  He settled for rising to his feet hurriedly instead, gazing over at the other with a complicated expression.

“Oh, you’re finally up,” Will said with a smile, tilting his head to the side as he set his bag down on the cluttered table.  Dust floated up and swirled through the air between them, tiny particles dancing in the early dawn light.  “I wasn’t sure if I should disturb you or not, you looked eerily peaceful and-“ his voice trailed off, the humor in his tone fading along with it.  A crease formed between his brows, a look of worry growing rapidly on his face.  “Is everything all right?”

“You were gone,” was all he said in response, tongue suddenly feeling strange inside his mouth.  Was it always this heavy whenever he used it?  And why did his body feel like he was falling and floating at the same time?

Blue eyes flicked from the bag over to the glass door, eventually skittering back over to Nico before they softened exponentially.  “Oh.  Sorry, I was out collecting some Lady Fern I found in the backyard.  It’s one of the plants we turn into medicines.”  Crossing the room in a few quick strides, Will placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.  “Did you think I’d left you?”

“I just-“ before he could finish, the golden boy pulled him into a tight embrace, the rest of the words dying in his throat.  Up close, the scent of fresh earth and warm sunlight flooded his senses, washing away the panic until all that was left was calm and safe and good.

“I’m sorry,” Will murmured, and if his heart was still able to, he knew it would be racing at the sound of the other’s silky voice.  “You were so quiet, and I didn’t know what to think about it, so I came down here to see if I could find something to do to pass the time, and that’s when I saw the fern outside and…” his voice trailed off once more, pulling away from him with a frown.  “Have you always been this warm?”

Nico blinked a few times in confusion, quirking a brow at the other boy to portray his lack of understanding.  It’s not as if he knew what he felt like, having no feeling in his skin nor receptors in his brain with which to judge those sensations properly.  As it stood, he wasn’t quite sure how he was even able to smell or taste.  Thinking about those kinds of things only managed to give him a figurative headache, so he tried not to dwell on it.

Smiling sheepishly, Will shook his head.  “Ah, I’ve probably just gotten used to touching you now, is all.  It’s funny, but I’ve always thought of you as a little more… dead looking?  No offense, you’re still cute.  Ah.  I mean.  You look nice.  And.”  A gentle pink tinge dusted his nose and cheeks, blue eyes flicking down as he took a sizable step back in sudden embarrassment.  “Um.  Sorry.”

Unable to help himself, Nico chuckled at the endearing sight, a smooth sound not unlike an actual laugh.  It surprised him so much that he snapped his mouth shut, afraid that soon the typical guttural noises might replace it.  “I wouldn’t know,” he replied coolly, the end of his mouth quirking up on one side.  “I try not… to look in mirrors very often.”

“I could see that being quite a shock,” Will teased, glancing up at him shyly.  Raking a hand through his golden hair, he drew his lower lip between his teeth.  “Anyway, I’m ready to head out whenever you are.  We probably won’t be making it back before dark if we stay around here for too long.”

“Alright,” he agreed without a hint of hesitation in his entire being.  It wasn’t as if he cared much for the scenery there, and though it meant their time together was drawing to a close, he couldn’t help but want to please the other by any means necessary.  No matter what it resulted in for him, Will’s happiness mattered more.  “Let’s go now… then.”

The boy smiled, and he swore it was rivaled only by the sun’s blinding rays.  “I’ll get my things.”

* * *

 The two set out shortly thereafter at a steady pace.  In the distance, large buildings reached up to kiss the clear blue sky.  From as far away as they stood a few miles out, they appeared to him almost as innocent as a child’s playset.  Unassuming.  Harmless.  Bearing no indication of the dangers that lurked within.

Of course, he knew the truth.  The dead still roamed those crumbling structures, drawn by an ingrained instinct to congregate together in a familiar setting.  The majority of his kind would most likely be found in the city’s heart, wandering aimlessly through the stores and parks as if they still had business to attend to.

It was perhaps the last place he wanted to venture but going around would take far longer than either of them would like.  The shortest distance was a straight line, and it would save half a day’s trip if they maneuvered it carefully.  That left him little option but to brave the quiet streets, hoping beyond hope they made it through to the other side unscathed.

If he had to guess, they’d reach the edge in no more than two hour’s time, as long as they took no detours along the way. 

So much had happened to him since the last time he’d been through the desolate wasteland that was the downtown area, so many new thoughts and ideas swirling around his chaotic mind.  It was hard to ingest it all, memories and emotions he didn’t have names for barraging him like waves assaulting a rocky shoreline, eroding away the crevices and jutted edges until they were as smooth as sea glass.

If he could just lay them all out, smooth it flat until he saw the bigger picture, perhaps then he could make sense of everything better. 

It was like a puzzle with half the pieces.  The border was nearly finished, the design becoming clearer by the second.  If he reached out a little further, touched that thin veneer shielding the remainder his memories from sight, perhaps he could break those chains holding him down for good.  Perhaps then he could…

A gentle breeze kicked up, wafting with it the scent of bubbling tar, hot metal baking beneath the grueling sun as it shone its light down on the quiet landscape.  He couldn’t actually feel it there on his skin, but the memory of it was still present from a time long past, dancing just below the surface like a walking daydream.  Birds flitted through the treetops, squirrels chattering away on the cords of powerlines.

It was like something out of Disney movie.  If Disney movies included a dystopian society and the end of the human species, that is.

“Do you know what I miss,” Will suddenly asked, cutting through the serenity with a chipper tone.

Nico glanced sidelong at his companion, blue eyes sparkling over at him softly.  “What?”

“Bananas.”

He blinked a few times, caught off-guard by such a random statement.  As if he wasn’t quite sure he’d heard right, he repeated the same question once more.  “What?”

A smile blossomed on the other boy’s face, gentle laughter spilling from his lips.  “I haven’t had one in six or so years, and I was just remembering how much I loved them,” he replied, shaking his head at the fondness of the memory. 

There was something in his voice that was different than usual, something that stirred Nico’s insides with ever-growing curiosity.  Not wanting to lose that strange sensation, he gazed back at the other, quietly urging him to elaborate further.

“My sister Kayla used to hate bananas growing up, the only way we could get her to eat them is when my mother baked them into banana bread.  We didn’t tell her what was in it, of course, she’d probably have refused to try it out of sheer stubbornness.  But they were my favorite breakfast food to have.  It’s funny how you think of things like that at the oddest of times.”

“What are they like,” Nico wondered aloud, brow creasing slightly as he tried his best to scrape up the flavor in his mind.  The image was there, the color and shape.  Nothing else.

Will hummed low, contemplating the question like it was imperative he answer it accurately.  “Well, they’re sweet.  Kind of…” his brow scrunched up, eyes blinking rapidly.  After a beat of silence, a grin split his face.  “Actually, the only thoughts that come to mind are yellow and banana-y.  I guess they’re just something indescribable.  Have you never had one, then?”

“I don’t remember,” he admitted.  “I can picture it, though.  I know… what they are.”

“Now I really wish I had one.  I know you’d like them, too.”

The boy said it so matter of fact that it took him aback, brows raising high in surprise.  Will wasn’t looking at him anymore, but he could still read the conviction from those words written there plain as day on his tan-skinned face.  Something about that pleased him to no end, satisfaction spreading through his chest.  Quirking his mouth with the hints of a smile, he was inclined to agree.

They chatted about random things as they walked along the broken street, weaving through the cars and trash that had accumulated there over time.  Will did most of the talking, of course.  Mostly, Nico just listened and nodded when appropriate, enthralled by anything and everything the golden boy had to say.

He talked about his past, the way his home looked in the beginning and how it had changed slowly over time; the differences that were apparent now.  About the adventures he’d had in the quiet streets on moonlit nights, or the secrets he’d found waiting in the smallest and most hidden of places.  He spoke of his family, his friends, all the things he’d come to hold dearest to himself.

Finally, turning to Nico with a curious gleam flashing in his bright blue eyes, he tilted his head, gaze skipping back and forth over his darker one like it might uncover the answers he sought without having to ask a single question.  Whatever hesitancy held him back only seemed to last but a moment, as seconds later he spoke, albeit with a softer tone than he’d previously had.  “And what about you?”

“Family?”

“Or friends.  You said you remember things from before?”  The unspoken words hung heavy in the air.  Before your death.  Before you changed.  Before you forgot the world.

Nico stopped to stare up at the tall buildings that were now giants blocking out the sun, green vines twisting their way up the sides in the hopes of reclaiming their territory.  Will watched him patiently from the corner of his eye, a respectable distance stretching out between the two of them.

“I can’t… remember much,” he admitted mechanically.  “My sister.  My father.”  Glancing sidelong at the other, he shrugged.  “I don’t know if they’re… alive.  I don’t know how long… has passed.”

“Do you know their names anymore,” Will asked, voice so thick it drew his attention over to that endless azure gaze.

Gone was the beautiful smile that had been etched on his face.  Gone was the gentle glow that seemed to radiate out from him like a miniature fire.  Everything about him was somber and small, and it broke Nico up inside thinking it might somehow be his fault.

“Hazel.” 

The name left his lips, and it felt like the entire world had closed in on him.  He was suffocating slowly, every organ inside of his body steadily shutting down.  Limbs shook.  His heartbeat weakened with each new breath.  Hoarse cries filled his ears, a pitiful sound echoing across the recesses of his broken mind.

Before he knew it, worried blue eyes flooded his line of sight, dragging him back from wherever it was he’d been about to go.  Hands gripped his shoulders tightly, and for a moment, he thought he might have recognized their warmth.  “Woah, there.  Are you all right?”

Shaking his head, he willed himself to speak.  “I… can’t.”

“That’s okay.  You don’t have to talk or even think about it.  I won’t ask again,” Will promised, rubbing his bicep in soothing circles.  A tight smile pulled his mouth, one that never managed to climb high enough to soften the tension in the rest of his face.

“I’m sorry.  I wish… I could tell you more.”

“Hey, I’m just glad you can keep up with all my rambling.  Most people get tired of listening to me talk.”

Nico’s lips twitched involuntarily with amusement.  “I like hearing… you talk.”

“You’d be the first,” Will joked, crinkling his nose distastefully.  “But thanks.  I’m happy to oblige.”

Whatever heaviness had befallen him evaporated instantly, the two falling back into step as they entered the outskirts of downtown. 

The streets were much as he remembered them, not that he’d expected many changes in just a few days time.  Still, his renewed perspective of everything created a sense of unfamiliarity that he couldn’t quite shake.  It was like he saw the world from outside of his body, or perhaps, it was only outside his own hazy mind.  Like the universe had spit out a copy of a place he’d once visited, minor nuances here and there the only indication it wasn’t the original piece.

Will’s eyes lit up with his own recognition seconds later, stopping in his tracks as he pointed to a place some distance away.  “That’s the building Lou and I scouted.  And there is the one Clarisse and Cecil took.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, nodding along with the recount.

The boy turned to him then, quirking a brow in question.  “You knew that?”

“I did.”

“Vague,” Will replied with a laugh, tilting his head to one side.  “Were you there watching us the whole time, then?”

It suddenly occurred to him that he was quite thankful zombies were immune to the blush.  “I heard a sound.  I… was curious, so I followed it.  You left… shortly after that.”

“That may very well explain the unease I felt afterward.  Friendly or not, having a stranger watch you from afar isn’t exactly the most settling of feelings.”  An odd look crossed his face, pink tinge painting his cheeks.  Waving his hands frantically, he began to ramble.  “Er, not that I’m saying you’re creepy.  You aren’t.  Not that I knew that at the time.  But I don’t mind, or anything.  You… we’re… what I mean is…”

Nico smiled, the whole of his mouth stretching so far that it felt ridiculous.  “I understand.  Zombies are pretty creepy.  Vacant… expression and all that.”

“You are definitely less creepy than the others,” Will amended with a smirk.  The majority of his face was still flooded with color, but he looked far less flustered than he’d been.  Raking a hand through his hair, he tilted his head once more.  “Which reminds me, are you the only one like you, or is there a whole group of oddballs roaming around somewhere that I’ve yet to meet?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied with a frown.  “But I’m… not really an expert.  We could… ask a few, if you’re feeling… adventurous.”  He finished the last word with a flick of the eyebrow to convey his cheekiness.

“Har har,” the boy drawled, rolling his eyes.  “A zombie comedian.  Never thought I’d see the day.”

“I try.”

“Don’t try too hard or you might-“

Nico didn’t allow him to finish, grabbing the boy by the wrist and yanking him off into a deserted alley.  It wasn’t the most conventional way to handle the situation, but he didn’t think taking the time to calmly state ‘hey look, there’s a zombie right over there, we should probably hide’ was really much smarter.  Kinder, but undeniably more likely to find themselves in trouble because of it.

Luckily for him, Will caught on fast.

Crouching low into the shadows, blue eyes scanned the street with calm calculation.  “Where is it,” he asked, already guessing at the reasons for being manhandled thusly.

“Going down the… cross-street.  I don’t think she… saw us, though.”

“Do you think we should hide somewhere for a little while, wait it out?  What is the likelihood that more of them are close by?”  Will looked to him then, all traces of previous humor gone from his face.  It was like he’d transformed into a different person; gaze sharp, body taut, mouth pressed into a hard line.  There was no mistaking it, this boy was a trained soldier.

“Highly likely,” Nico replied matter-of-factly, not one to beat around the bush.  Stepping around the building’s side, he watched for any indication that the woman had caught on to their presence.

It didn’t appear to be the case, her stiff and jerky movements not unlike his had been in the past.  The expression on her face was still blank, and though they were some fifty feet from her, he could tell the boy’s scent had yet to catch her attention.  That was a good thing. Once it had, she’d begin her search.

Glancing back, he shook his head to stop the other’s curiosity.  “She isn’t coming this way.  If… we’re lucky, we can slip by… before your scent reaches her.”

“How will we know when that happens,” he asked, looking a bit confused.

Nico sighed internally, chastising himself for not explaining things sooner.  Now was not the time for chit-chat.  “Zombies can’t move like… regular people.  They only react like that… when they smell prey.”

Will nodded like he understood.  “So, it’s a matter of sneaking around until we’re either out of here or caught.  How close can you get before the scent is noticeable?”

“That depends on… a lot of factors.”

“For instance?”

“Blood,” he replied with a slight shrug.  “Or the direction… of the wind.  Some people… smell more than others do.”

As if he couldn’t help but wonder, the boy gave his upper arm a good sniff.  “Do I… smell?”

It took all of his composure not to crack a smile.  “Quite tasty.”

Will narrowed his eyes to slits.  “I can’t tell if I should be flattered or disgusted by that.”  After a beat, he grinned.  “I’ll go with flattered.”

“Good choice.”

“Alright, so what’s the plan, exactly?  How should we-“ the boy sucked in a sudden and sharp breath, pivoting his body away from the building as his hand flew up to clasp his forearm.  “Fuck.”

Before he could inquire as to what was wrong, the scent of sweet ecstasy hit his nostrils like a punch to the face.  Staggering backward, he had to blink a few times before the lightheaded sensation could fully dissipate.  Flicking his eyes over to the beige-painted wood, he found the culprit almost instantly in the form of a crooked nail.  It stuck out at the perfect angle, hardly noticeable but clearly hazardous.

“This is bad,” he mumbled, spinning around to scan the road once more.  The muscles in his body already felt ten times lighter than they had but a moment ago, and that was with having been around the boy long enough that the effect should have been hardly present.  Who knows what it would do to the others.

Blood pooled around Will’s fingers, dripping through the gaps and splattering the dirty sidewalk.  “Just give me a second.  I can have this cleaned and bandaged in a jiff.”

“There’s no time.”  Hauling him up by the crook of the arm, he set off down the street at a sprint, hoping beyond hope that no other zombies were nearby.

They rounded the corner and moved down the adjacent sidewalk, zigzagging around pieces of dilapidated building crumble as they went.  Drops of blood left a small trail that would lead directly to them, but he couldn’t be bothered to care about that while in the midst of a blind panic.

If too many were to surround the two of them, he wouldn’t be able to stop them all.  If one of them got ahold of Will, even for a second, it could spell the end of everything. 

He wouldn’t let that happen.

Feet slapped the pavement hard, the resulting sound ricocheting off the walls and empty cars until it sounded more like a pack of wild bulls were rampaging through the streets than it did two scared teenage boys.  He wasn’t exactly certain where it was he was headed, but the thought of ‘anywhere but here’ kept circulating through his mind at a dizzying pace.

The roads were a labyrinth, the buildings all blending until they looked much the same.  Despite having explored much of it in the past, every dark alley suddenly looked like a trap, each narrow passage another potential for death.  Was he going deeper into the center of town, or further away?  Was that turn the correct choice, or was he about to realize his mistake?  If they could just outrun the worst of it…

It didn’t take long until he noticed his greatest fears had come to fruition, that the sound of wind whistling through his ears wasn’t the only thing making a sharp and piercing cry.  Voices wailed from somewhere close, a cacophony of angry moans and snarls causing the hand gripping Will to being to shake. 

What’s more, it wasn’t just from behind him, but every direction, closing in on the two of them like a tidal wave of murderous intent.  He didn’t stop until there was nowhere left to go, until the gaunt faces of his brethren had the two of them completely and utterly trapped.  End of the line.  Nowhere else to go.

Only he wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Pulling the golden boy behind himself, he shielded his body to the best of his ability, spinning in slow circles to ensure not a single one got too close.  The skin of his upper lip pulled high over his teeth, jaw clenching menacingly as a horrible sound ripped from his throat.

It was a warning, oozing with possessiveness, and he could see on their faces that no one quite understood why.  Countless hollow eyes stared back at him questioningly, asking for answers they’d never begin to grasp.

“Mine,” he stated, glaring at the glum looks he got in return.  “Leave.  Now.”

A single form stepped forward from the group, sniffing the air loudly.   “F… fffff,” it began, scrunching up its face like it was in physical pain from that small effort.  “Ffffff.”

Nico hissed out a sound like an enraged bear, causing the poor boy to flinch back into the group.

“Ffff… ooooo,” it tried again, a little more timidly.

“No,” he snapped, stomping the asphalt with his foot for added emphasis.  “You don’t get him.  Mine.”

Another zombie stepped forward, and then another, each one twisting their expressions oddly as a chorus of sound spilled out of them.  “Fffffffffff-”

“I said no.  Quit trying… to argue.  I won’t give him up.”

The first zombie shook his head incredulously, crossing arms angrily over his chest.  “W… wwhh… hhyyy?”

“Because he’s my friend.”

A few of them shared confused looks with one another, turning to him once more in question.  It was clear they didn’t grasp the concept, couldn’t see past the fog long enough to discern the meaning of his words.  If that was the case, he’d jog their memory.

Pulling Will up to his side, he slipped his hand down the boy’s bloody arm, entangling their fingers before holding them up to show everyone.  “Don’t you remember what… it was like?”

A flicker of something flashed in their eyes, like a dying ember searching for kindling to ignite a roaring flame.  Whether or not they truly knew the meaning, it was hard to say, but recognition was present nonetheless.  One by one they turned and left until the only zombie remaining was the boy with folded arms. 

He sized the two of them up before the corner of his mouth curled in what was almost a smirk.  “N… Nnnnn… nnnniiii.”

“Leo,” Nico asked, searching the boy’s face for something familiar.  Only the name was accessible to him, but somehow, he knew it was correct.

Dark eyes twinkled slightly before he turned on his heel and walked away.

The moment they were gone Will collapsed to his knees, the hand still clasped loosely in his own trembling.  A strange look flooded his face, equal parts relief, disbelief, and sheer terror.  “I thought I was going to die,” he mumbled, voice hardly more than a hoarse whisper.  Blue eyes flicked up to search his own, wilder than he’d ever seen them.  “I thought that it was all over.”

Taking a knee, Nico placed a reassuring hand atop silky locks of golden hair.  “You’re safe now.  I won’t… let anything hurt you.”

“Thank you, Nico,” he whispered, and then everything was sunlight and tangy blood, heady sweat and the unmistakable scent of freshly dug earth.  It trickled up his airways and throughout his body, permeating the emptiness inside his cells like water droplets sinking into desert sand.  “Thank you for everything.”

As the boy clung to the fabric of his shirt, face pressed firmly into his chest, he wrapped a single arm around his back and smiled softly. 

The streets were cracked and dirty, littered with debris, the buildings decaying slowly beneath the heavy weight of time.  In the midst of that quiet moment, unsuspecting and unassuming, thinking of nothing more than this person he’d fight to protect against all odds; Nico’s heart took a single beat.

“You’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER--  
> I won't continue the song, and I'm sorry if I just got it stuck in anyone else's head. That's totally all I could think of after that second to last line.  
> WOW. This chapter was supposed to go on longer than this, but it was nearly 5,000 words already so... who knows just how much longer I would have made it if I didn't limit myself.
> 
> I totally wrote this days ago and have been itching to post it, but didn't want to without a couple day break in between.  
> I have listened to the 'update a little more frequently' shaming I've received, totally validly, I might add, and am attempting to be better.  
> Which means I'm an ass for not doing so with my other fics, but baby-steps, eh?
> 
> If I ever get bad, if you ever want more sooner, don't hesitate to scold me. :)
> 
> Hit me up on Tumblr - Cherrypie62666  
> Or my writer Tumblr - Cherrywrites626

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on Tumblr - Cherrywrites626


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